From Light to Dark
by midnightvisions
Summary: We'll be the darkness... that's what you said, right, Riku? ...the next generation of Nobodies: younger, stronger, and ready for their shot... EXCERPT: "I was sent to survey this world. And then the Heartless seemed to lose control."
1. Chapter 1

Just an idea I got, it won't leave me alone. I have no clue how long it'll be, so bear with me, please! Possible eventual yaoi, KH 3 fic. Begins (right down there) with the scene right before KH 2's credits

Disclaimer: ... For the love of it—I don't own anything! (But I really want an Axel plushie!)

Sora sighed as he resumed his familiar position against the Paupou tree. He and Riku both could feel the comfortable silence humming around them as the sun set. "Nothing's changed..." he mumbled to himself. "Nothing ever will." Riku answered.

(...I forget the rest of the scene, only bits, so we're skipping ahead)

"Sora! Riku!" The boys turned around to see Kairi running toward them, holding something in her hand. "Look!" When they bent forward, Sora gasped. "The King's seal!" He quickly grabbed the bottle and fished out the letter, his friends reading over his shoulders.

_Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi:_

_I know we just got finished defeating Xemnas, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeated Xehanort's heartless two years ago. But there's bad news, and no time to celebrate._

_I found recently in the castle a hidden room. It was a wonderful source of history and information, and I found an ancient book describing the origin of the Keyblades._

"_Hundreds of years ago, there was a Keyblade War. Competitors from the paths of Light, Dark, Twilight, and Dawn each held a Keyblade, and Light and Twilight fought against the wielders of Dawn and Dark. Originally, Dawn was dragged to the Dark side, but he eventually realized what he had done was wrong, and returned to the side of Light. Dark, betrayed and angry, met the other three for one final battle. He was defeated, and his memories were sealed in his Keyblade. He himself was banished to another world—another time—without anything but a name." This Keyblade master, I've discovered, is Xehanort._

"What?..." Sora asked in a whisper, eyes wide. "Keep going, Sora." Riku whispered solemnly.

_It's true, I'm afraid. It wouldn't be a problem, because Xehanort became a Heartless and a Nobody, but somehow, when both of those were defeated, Xehanort managed to return. And, unfortunately, he's also found his Keyblade and regained his memories._

_If this has reached you in time, and I'm sure it did, Donald and Goofy are preparing to leave the castle to come and get you. They'll be arriving in the Gummi ship within a few days, so be prepared. I can only say that I sincerely hope that this is the last time we have to leave our loved ones to battle the forces of darkness—_

_Signed,_

_King Mickey_

"This can't be..." Sora said softly. "I don't get it either. We'll have to ask the King when we see him." Riku stated. "Hey, look at the bright side, guys!" The two looked at their friend. Kairi was smiling brightly. "At least this time, we're all together! No more worrying about who's safe or not, or if anybody's gone. We'll stick together for this journey, right, Sora, Riku?" Sora smiled happily. "Yeah, you're right Kairi. We're in this one together." Riku nodded. "Alright, we should go get ready. The letter said they'd be here soon, so everyone should rest up."

Kairi nodded, and yawned. "You're right, Riku. The sun's already set. I'm going home. Meet here tomorrow morning, okay?" The two boys nodded and Kairi walked off. "So, Riku?" Sora ventured hesitantly. "Yeah, Sora?" "What do you think? Xehanort is a Keyblade master, the letter said something about a Keyblade War, we have to save the worlds again, and—" "Heh. Sora, relax. You're going to end up thinking too much and be more confused than ever. I think we should just wait until the King can explain it to us, and then figure out what to do." The brunet sighed heavily. "I guess, but I'm still worried..."

The teens stood in silence for a few more minutes, each wrapped in their own thoughts. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Riku?" "Yeah, see you tomorrow." Sora walked off, leaving Riku to frown slightly. This was not good...

_The Next Day, meeting spot_

Riku sat in his usual place on the old familiar tree, staring at the seemingly endless ocean. A gentle breeze moved his long silver hair, momentarily blocking his vision. He heard footsteps from behind, and turned to see Sora walking up shyly. "Uh, Riku?" "Yeah, what's up?" "Could you come with me for a second? Really quick before Kairi gets here?" "What's wrong?" Riku asked as he jumped off the limb. "Just come on."

Sora walked away, head bowed nervously, and Riku followed. What could be wrong with Sora? After a few minutes of walking, the duo arrived at the entrance to the Secret Spot. "Just in here, hurry." Sora mumbled before ducking inside. Riku went in soon after, curious. Eventually they emerged in a cavern, most of the walls covered with old drawings. Sora walked over to the door, stopping momentarily to eye a picture to the right. When Riku followed his line of sight, he saw a poor imitation Sora and Kairi exchanging Paupou fruits.

Sora took a deep breath and put a hand on the wooden door in front of him. "This door... has been here longer than anyone can remember. It has no knob to open it, not even a hole. Just a solid piece of wood. A lot of rumors say that the door is a fake, and it's just rock behind it. But others believe that something unknown and very powerful lies behind this enigma. Nobody knows for sure, though. It's always been closed. No one even knows who put it here in the first place." "Why are you telling me all this?" Sora turned his head and smiled half-heartedly at his best friend. "'Cuz we're gonna open this door, Riku."

At the shocked expression on the older boy's face, Sora stopped smiling. "What's behind this door, Riku? I've wanted to know for so long, it's crazy." "But—" "No, Riku. Once Kairi gets here, we're going to try and open this door." "What if Kairi can't use her Keyblade?" "I'm sure she can. Once a Keyblade chooses its master, it's really hard to change its mind. I'm sure you remember, Riku?" The silver haired teen looked down sadly. "I remember the Keyblade being awfully lenient a few years ago." "That was different. There's nobody fighting over the blade, so there shouldn't be a problem with her having it." "But Sora, the letter—" "Riku... that's exactly why I'm asking for us to do this now! Who knows what will happen when we leave? Who knows if we'll ever come back here, even!? I don't want to think about it like that, so I'm not leaving until I can answer this one question. What is the deal with this door!?"

They stood in opposition like that for several minutes while Riku looked thoughtful. "Okay, Sora. Let's go back to the tree and wait for Kairi." Sora nodded before following his best friend out.

They arrived back at their usual spot, assuming the familiar spots. It was only a few short moments of heavy silence before Kairi approached from behind. "Hey guys. What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, seeing the looks on their faces. "Huh? Oh, Kairi! Come with us a minute." Sora said eagerly, seeming startled at the same time. Riku once again slid off his sitting position and stood behind Sora. "Sora wants to check something before we leave, Kairi. You should come with us." "Uh, sure. Okay." "Great!"

Sora again led the way to the Secret Spot, this time motioning for Kairi to follow him inside. When the three approached the door, Sora sobered. "Kairi, there are a lot of rumors about this door. What it is, where it came from, all sorts of things. There's no doorknob or keyhole. Nobody has ever seen past it. I think, that with all three of our Keyblades combined, that we can open it." Riku summoned his Way to the Dawn and held it at his side. The Kingdom Key appeared in Sora's right hand, and he turned around to stare expectantly at Kairi.

"Sora..." Kairi started. But he didn't respond, only stared. Sighing resignedly, Kairi brought forth her Keyblade. She swung it around a couple times, getting used to the feel of the weapon again. Once she was sure, or at least sure enough, Kairi nodded to Sora.

The brunet walked to stand in between Riku and Kairi, and all three brought their Keyblades up to point at the door. Sora shot off a beam of white light first, but it showed no effect on the old wood. A streak of black ran from Riku's Keyblade next, joining Sora's, still not having any effect on the barrier. "Kairi!" Sora called out. The girl stared nervously for a second, but willed the power out of the weapon and at the door. As the gold line merged with Sora's and Riku's, the door seemed to waver.

"Come on, just a little more!" Sora said, staring intensely at the door. The outline had become blurry from the force of their attacks, and parts of it momentarily disappeared. "Almost there!" Riku shouted, for suddenly a gust was blowing from the door, trying to push the three back. Shoes scraped the grounds, heels dug into soil, hair was flying everywhere, but still neither force let up. The teens were forced to crouch, the gale was so strong, but they kept the barrage going. More and more of the door was fading in and out now, and the change was more erratic than before.

Suddenly, a crack was heard.

Sora gasped. Riku and Kairi both stared amazedly as a blinding white light issued as the door swung open, forcing the trio to cover their eyes. White-hot heat washed over them, and they all let out some kind of cry.

And then it all had stopped.

There was no longer a gust of wind, no more heat or light to blind them. The cave sat in complete silence, a kind of cold stillness in the atmosphere. Three pairs of eyes adjusted to the change in lighting. Sora and Riku stood up, as did Kairi. "Hey, look." Riku pointed to Kairi's hand, which still held a Keyblade. Sora and Riku's, however, were gone. "What happened?" Three pairs of eyes swiveled to the door, only to see it shut once again, as if it never had been touched.

"No!" Sora yelled, reaching out a hand to the door. "This can't be..." "Sora, what was so important behind that door?" The brunet had his head bowed. "I... really don't know, Riku. I just felt like I needed to open it. It's almost like... the door was calling me, somehow." The teens stared for a moment, each having their own thoughts. "So, Kairi," Riku asked, focusing on the girl. "Why did your Keyblade stay, while mine and Sora's disappeared?" Kairi frowned, and gripped her weapon tighter.

"I don't know, Riku." "Hm. Well, we should go get ready. The letter did say Donald and Goofy would be here soon." Riku turned around and began to walk out of the cave, followed by a hesitant Kairi. "Hey, Sora?" she said softly, barely managing to catch the boy's attention. "Yeah, Kairi?" "You coming?" Sora turned to look at the door. "Just a minute, Kairi. I'll be out in a second." "Okay then." The redhead turned back and walked away, leaving Sora to face the door alone.

"What is with you?" Receiving no answer, Sora sighed. "Why am I talking to a door? It's obvious you don't have any answers for me..." _Sora..._ "Huh?" _Remember, Sora..._ "What is it?..." The brunet looked around, but couldn't see anything. _You are the one who will open the door..._ "Hm. You again... what do you mean!?" (1)

Silence greeted his yelling, and Sora frowned. Almost reluctantly, he turned around and left the cave, casting one last longing glance at the enigmatic door.

"Sora!" When the Keyblade wielder heard his name, he looked up to see Riku waving him over. "What's going on?" "They're here." Sora gasped, and looked around his friend to see Donald, Goofy, King Mickey and Kairi standing a bit away, waving to him. "Hey, guys!" Sora smiled and waved back energetically, laughing slightly. "Sora?..." Riku asked quietly.

"Huh? What is it Riku?" "Are you okay, Sora?" "Yeah, I'm fine." The silver-haired boy stared at his friend suspiciously. "Riku, is this about the door?" Sora asked playfully, smiling at Riku. When the older teen didn't respond, Sora dropped his smile and sighed. "Yeah, I'm still upset about it. But we don't have time to worry about it, Riku. The worlds need us again, remember?"

Riku 'hm'ed and turned around to walk toward the others. "Whatever you say, Sora." Sora pouted at his friend's back, but followed. After everyone had exchanged greetings and hugs, King Mickey turned serious.

"Now, we need to go back to the castle to talk about everything I found out about Xehanort." A sober silence surrounded the group. "But your majesty, didn't you say there was somethin' else ya needed to tell us?" Goofy asked. Mickey nodded. "Yeah, and it's about Ansem the Wise." Startled gasps came from the listeners. "But, your majesty, I thought Ansem died when that machine exploded!" Sora exclaimed.

"I thought so, too. But he didn't, apparently." "You've received contact from him?" "Yeah, Riku, I did. And he told me the same he prob'ly told you." Riku and Mickey exchanged significant nods, and the king continued. "And there's more than that, too."

"Aw, come on, your majesty!" "Sora, this is important. But I can't say it here. We've gotta go to the castle. I'll explain everything there." A general sigh went out, and almost everybody slumped. "Aw, it's okay, guys." "How can you say that, your majesty? As far as I can see, nothing's okay!" "Sora, even though there's a lot of bad stuff going on, there's some good news too!" "Like what?"

"Well, the gummi routes have stayed open for us! We can see all our friends again!" "Really!?" "Yeah, and there's still more news, but we've gotta get to the castle so I can show you." Sora turned to Kairi, smiling slightly. "All together this time, right?" "Right." Kairi smiled back.

(1) Seriously! Who was that in KH1 that said that and what did they mean!?

Well, there's the first chapter. Next ones will be longer, but I need worlds and characters you wanna see. Some are already definite, but hey, you still have a choice! **Also, the theory is not mine, it's also not confirmed as the actual plot of KH3.** Kairi still has her Keyblade 'cuz I said so, and she needs it for later on. I'm trying to write Donald and Goofy's accents, but it's hard!!! Now for pairings: forget it, you decide. It could work well with Sora going with either Riku or Kairi. Tell me what you want, and we shall see. And Roxas and Namine (accent-thingy-help, please?) might be in this, I'm not sure. Once again, tell me if you want 'em.


	2. What do you Mean?

**Chapter 2: What do you mean!?**

Sora sighed as the group of six arrived at Disney Castle. It had been a remarkably quiet trip between the worlds, the king being uneasily silent, Donald and Goofy keeping to themselves. Riku had always been reclusive, but Kairi should have been happier. And, well, Sora was sulking.

It's not that he didn't want to do this, but...

He didn't want to do this.

Sora had saved the worlds twice now, and the individual worlds more times than anybody cared to count. He was tired of it. Tired of the Keyblade throwing him into a life he never asked for. Why couldn't he just do what needed to be done and go home? Why did he continuously have to abandon his life in order to carry the burden of so many others? It's not like Sora regretted being chosen, but sometimes he just wished everything was over.

Another sigh escaped the brunet as the group entered the Audience Chamber. Kairi gasped at the room's size and whiteness. "Wow... it's so big!" she yelled to the high ceilings. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were already on the way over to the throne placed in the back. While the rest of the group watched silently, Mickey pressed the secret button under the arm, revealing the entrance to the Hall of the Cornerstone.

Finally they were downstairs, Sora and Riku staring expectantly at the king. "Well, guys, this is it." "Huh?"

Mickey strode behind the Cornerstone to a spot on the wall. He knocked once, and an opening appeared. Sora made a small noise of disbelief at the seemingly endless darkness beyond it. "It's in here." He stepped through then, disappearing in an instant. Donald and Goofy followed without another word, and the Destiny Islands trio stood hesitantly.

"Well, Sora, Riku. Let's go." Kairi said assuredly, walking quickly into the shadows.

"What do you think, Riku?" Sora asked, staring at the taller boy uneasily. Riku remained in a pensive silence for a moment. "I think..." There was a tense pause. "We should go, Sora." Sora tilted his head for a second as Riku stepped forward. Hm. It sounded like Riku was going to say something else for a minute there. The Keyblade wielder pushed the thought to the back of his mind and followed Riku into the darkness.

Sora inhaled sharply at the coldness of it, that instantaneous darkness. He opened his eyes, not remembering closing them, and stared amazedly at his surroundings.

The group seemed to be in a huge library, bigger than the one in the castle many times over. Rows upon rows of bookshelves stretched out like an ocean in front of them. The rounded walls were practically made of shelves, but Sora could glimpse pieces of a wall behind them, even a few pillars. Not the pure white of the castle, but darker. Maybe wood? Sora looked down to see a lush red carpet blanketing the floor. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi were rows ahead of them.

Sora sighed, once again, and turned to see Riku watching him closely. "Riku?" "Yeah, Sora?" "What's wrong?" Riku made a small noise before beginning to walk off. "I should be asking you that, Sora." The brunet frowned slightly. Was he that obvious!?

After a few more minutes of quiet walking, the six turned down an aisle and Mickey headed directly toward a small wooden table at the end. The king placed one hand on the thick, dark brown volume, and stopped. "Guys," he said, voice serious, "this book, this library, was not built into the castle." Nobody said a word as apprehension became evident on all. "I think that this library can travel through time and space. It's the only explanation." He stood on a stool behind the table and waved everyone over to see the contents of the book, flipping to a page with the corner turned down.

"Read this, Sora, Riku, Kairi." The three leaned closer, and for a second Sora was reminded of the instant they received the king's letter. It brought a squirming to his stomach. He pushed the memory down, and focused on the old, faded text in front of him. The book was ancient, obviously, with slightly torn edges and eerie yellow-brownish paper.

_The Keyblade is still a mystery to me. I still don't know how it came to be in my possession, but I do know, I think, that I'm supposed to use it to fight these strange creatures that seem to be born from darkness. I do know, however, that I will use this instrument to save my beloved._

_Nathan, my heart aches for you._

_Stephanie_

"So, what is this, your majesty?" asked Sora out of reflexive curiosity. "It's a diary." "Kairi?" Sora stared, surprised, at his friend's answer. "She's right, Sora. It is a diary." "But whose?" Riku asked, a frown on his face. Mickey turned to Kairi, nodding. "Kairi?"

The teenage girl looked deep in thought. "Stephanie was barely older than us. Nathan was her love. The Heartless attacked their world, and Nathan was lost in the confusion and destruction. Then, Stephanie got the Keyblade, and set out on a journey to find him. Something in her heart told her that he was alive, and to not give up. So she never did."

"Kairi?" Sora asked softly, wanting to reach out and comfort her. But Kairi only bowed her head, red hair hiding her face. "She couldn't find him, no matter how hard she looked. For years she searched. But one day, Stephanie saw him." A pause, Sora thought the room was too quiet. Anything to stop the deafening silence rushing through his ears. "He was nearly dead. She ran to him, her heart reaching out for him after so long. But she was too late. By the time Stephanie got to him, he was almost dead.

"For a few minutes, a feeling of complete loss consumed her. He fainted, she thought he had died. But still, she took him back to the nearest town. Found out he wasn't dead, and stayed by his side for so long while he recovered. But he was in a comatose state for months more. She never left him. One day, he finally woke up."

Suddenly her head snapped up, away from the book. Her eyes cleared, and she looked around at the grave faces staring at her. "What's wrong, guys?" Sora blinked, surprised. "Kairi, you don't remember?" "Remember what?" "What you were just saying! About Stephanie and Nathan?" Kairi gave Sora a confused look. "Sora, what are you talking about? Do you mean the Stephanie and Nathan here?" She motioned to the still open book.

"Yes, them, Kairi! You mean..." he stared at her, partly sad and partly confused. "You don't remember what you just told us?" Kairi was staring at him strangely, and he knew the others were as well, not saying anything. The silence was too much again, it was suffocating him. Somebody say something, already! he screamed in his head, but the room remained silent.

"What is this, your majesty?" Riku asked, waving a hand over the diary. "It's the diary of an old Keyblade wielder. She lived years and years ago. Stephanie is Kairi's ancestor." Two people gasped at the revelation. "Wait, what did I say? I just remember reading the book, and then everyone was staring at me." "Kairi, what happened was you came in contact with a very personal object of your ancestor's. I think that your hearts are connected because of the Keyblade. And because of that connection, you were able to see into the past, into Stephanie's heart."

"What?" "Your majesty, how does this relate to Xehanort?" Not that Sora actually wanted to know, not that he actually wanted to be here... "Sora, this entire library is full of books like this. Not all of them are diaries, but they all have to do with the history of the Keyblade and its wielders. This is the Library of Keyblades." He jumped off the seat, walked over to a nearby shelf, and dragged another book off. This was even bigger, with a leather cover.

"This is another diary. Riku, I think this is from your ancestor." The silver-haired boy looked carefully at the volume before carefully opening to a random page, hearing the crinkling of old paper. Riku leaned in closer, and Sora read over his shoulder.

_Somehow, I must stop him. Jonathan is getting too powerful for his own good. I have proof of my suspicions that he is planning to betray me, but I don't know if I can stop him. In my old age, I have become feeble and can no longer fight. If he were to challenge me directly, it would mean my death._

_However, the other day, a most interesting object stumbled into my possession. A blade, shaped as a key, strangely enough. I have a feeling that this weapon is supposed to help me save my home from my son._

Riku sighed. "Yeah, it did." Sora stared at his best friend, wondering what the boy was seeing. Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Kairi seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Jonathan was a spoiled child, and grew greedy as an adult. His father feared that his corruption would destroy his home and family, so he challenged him. It was a quick fight. With the Keyblade, Jonathan lost fast. After that, the Keyblade disappeared and he never saw it again. But, he didn't need it, really, because the threat was over. And he never regretted the loss."

"See?" Mickey said. "These are your predecessors. They had the Keyblades before you, and you're all connected. I think that's how you can see their pasts, just by coming into contact with something close to their hearts." The group stood in a silent circle as the news sunk in. "Sorry, Sora." Mickey said sadly. "I've looked a lot and I can't find anything from the past about your ancestors." The brunet smiled, fakely. "It's okay, your majesty. But still, how does all this relate to Xehanort?"

Once again, the king walked to another shelf and brought over a third, much smaller tome. "This is the most interesting of all." He flipped to a marked page. Sora, Riku, and Kairi leaned in closer. "This one, I think, is what Xehanort wrote many years ago, when he was a Keyblade master."

_Those fools are misusing the power of the Keyblades. To use such a gift to merely keep order in the worlds is a waste. I know a much more useful path for their power. However, I do despise the idea of the others discovering my purpose, so I have resorted to planning in the dark. One day soon I will rise against the others and show them the true power of the Keyblade._

"That sounds like it could be him." Sora said thoughtfully. "So, what happens now?" Riku asked, frowning slightly. "We know that Xehanort's back, and he needs to be stopped. Do you know where he is?" King Mickey shook his head. "No, I don't. And I can't find even a clue as to what he's up to." "So, what are we supposed to do?" Sora asked impatiently. "Hm... I guess we just have to go to all the worlds and ask if anybody's seen anything." Sora wanted to sigh again.

"Okay, so, what're we waiting for?" he instead found himself saying. "Which worlds are letting us travel to them?" "Well," the king said, all traces of sadness gone, "right now only Radiant Garden. We'll have to unlock the paths to get to the others." "Okay then. Let's go." "Right."

The king jumped off the stool again, and started walking toward the portal. Donald and Goofy followed. "Come on, Sora, Riku." Kairi called after them. Sora found himself forcibly swallowing another sigh. "Come on, Sora." Riku said to the brunet. "Coming, Riku." But he hesitated. One glance was cast at the book sitting innocently on the table before it was swiftly grabbed and put carefully into a pocket.

_(Later, In Radiant Garden...)_

The King led the group through town, many people casting curious glances toward them. However, all looks were ignored as Mickey opened the door of Merlin's house.

"Hey, Merlin!" Mickey called out. He was greeted by a bright 'poof' of blue and a flash of sparkles. "Hello, now, what seems to be the problem?" "Merlin, we've got trouble. Xehanort's back, and we need to find him. Do ya think you can help us?"

"Oh, my, Xehanort, you say? Well, that's certainly not good. I'll whip up a locator spell in a jiffy, then. I say, why don't you all go over to Ansem's Study and check for clues? Leon and the others are over there, as well, I believe." "Thanks, Merlin. We will."

Mickey turned to face the others when Merlin disappeared. "Ok, I think we should split up. Donald, Goofy, you take Kairi to the Marketplace. Get supplies and ask around if anyone has heard anything about Xehanort. Sora, Riku, and I will head over to Ansem's Lab and look for clues. Come meet us there when you're all done."

The Magician and Knight nodded at their King before leading Kairi off in the direction they had come from. Mickey turned to Riku and Sora and nodded before setting off.

No sooner had they rounded the corner to climb the bailey stairs then a group of Shadows appeared, surrounding the trio. Immediately Sora, Riku and Mickey huddled, backs close. The Kingdom Key flashed into Sora's hand, and Riku's Way to the Dawn appeared. King Mickey had his Golden Key already present, and flipped forward to slash two of the enemy.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sora saw, sadly, the two hearts float up and disappear into the darkness. Would they be going to the new Kingdom Hearts? Run forward, destroy the one on the right, twirl and backhand the left one. Two more hearts lost to oblivion, two more souls erased from this dimension.

Parry the claws, see Riku get hit in the back and feel a moment of panic. Don't turn, don't stop. Riku's tougher than that. He'll be fine. You can't afford to panic. Slash, cut, and knock into the air. There's too many around you, what to do!?

Sora twirled the Keyblade, shouting "Fire!" Riku watched from behind silver bangs as red and white flames surrounded his friend, and the half-dozen enemies exploded into a dark aura, the hearts instantly floating upwards and being absorbed. How many Nobodies were created with these Heartless? How many opponents would they have to fight before the final battle? When would they be able to go home and move on with life, no more fighting other than an occasional friendly spar? Jab, slash, sidestep, block, let the body protect itself. Shadows are the weakest Heartless, nothing much to worry about.

Get hit again, in the side this time, and know somehow that Sora is looking at you still, and know that he knows that you're okay. He knows you better than to worry.

King Mickey was flipping around, taking out various heartless of the group. Conserve energy, but don't let them get into town. Then there will only be more, and this time it might be people we know and love. Don't let too much feeling into the battle, it never turns out good. Control anger and try not to think. It's easier to act first. Take out the enemy and move on. Because we've got bigger problems.

Finally, all the enemies had been defeated. The trio watched, apathetic if not a little sad, as one last heart floated up, the white, pink, and yellow twinkles quickly stolen to what would be the new Kingdom Hearts. Once it was gone, Mickey silently went forward. Sora and Riku followed a second after. Not even a look was needed.

They continued like that for a while, battling the weak heartless that always seemed to mark the beginning of a new journey, thinking the entire time, but never saying a word. Another group materialized on the path to the Postern.

Cut. Stab. Backslash. Blizzard on the one trying to get him. Parry. An opportunity for a combo taken. Mickey just tripped, he must be getting tired. Fire on the ones near you and a rapidly cast Cure. They're lessening...

Eventually, the Heartless were all gone. It was only Sora that stopped to watch the small, yet pretty, heart be swallowed by the grabbing darkness. Riku and Mickey, he knew, had seen too many of the same. And so had he.

But why keep going, if that was true? Sora thought as he walked, following his companions up the path. Why keep fighting? To protect the innocent, you must destroy the condemned? It made no sense! Everyone had the right to live, so why did a select few have lives torn and hearts stolen? And the Keyblade wielders, who are supposed to protect people, are doing what?

Killing.

Sora stopped at the revelation. They were outright killing and destroying these souls. And the hearts were being taken into darkness... this isn't right. When Sora, more thinking than watching, saw Riku stop and turn his head slightly, he moved forward. It might not be right... but it's all we can do right now...

Xehanort, you will be the last one I kill.


	3. A New Order

The trio continued past the Postern, descending the overshadowed stairs to enter the small maze of hallways leading to Ansem's Lab. A few more Heartless blocked their path, but were soon taken care of. They stopped in the ruined office, hearing clashing and yelling from the factory. Immediately on alert, Sora ran ahead, remembering how Merlin had said Leon was inside.

Riku and the King, startled, made to run after him. None of them noticed the shadowy portal appearing on the floor in Sora's path. Too late, the brunet tried to avoid it, slipping and tumbling through. Panicking, Riku tried to dive in after him, but the darkness disappeared after engulfing Sora. A whirring sound announced the closing of the secret door leading to the computer room as Riku stood up. It was a dead end.

Sora let out an 'oomph' as he landed face down in the Heartless Factory. Although disoriented, he heard the clanging much louder now, and panic cut through his confusion. Sora quickly stood up and looked out at the platform, where he saw Leon fighting a figure hidden in a familiar black cloak...

A wave of dread, rage, and sadness hit Sora as he recognized the cloak as the trademark of the vanquished Organization XIII. "What is going on!?" He called out, furious. The combatants paused at the intrusion, Leon and the stranger turning their heads slightly. "Sora? What are you doing!? Get out of here!" Leon ordered. But Sora ignored him, summoning his Keyblade and charging at the stranger.

Leon jumped back just in time to avoid a Keyblade in his face as Sora closed in on the intruder. He slashed forward, and the man brought up his weapon expectantly. They broke apart, and Sora ran forward again, attacking from his right. The figure waited, and right before Sora hit, disappeared in a flash. Blue eyes scanned the room after noticing the swing had hit only air.

"Where'd he go?" Leon asked, looking around carefully. It was quiet for a few seconds, the only sound echoing loudly as Sora breathed heavily. His hands were shaking, and he gripped the Keyblade tighter. Wherever he was, the man wasn't gone yet. Sora knew that much. At the absence of any distraction, his emotions were on overdrive. Outrage, resentment, overwhelming sadness all flooded Sora's mind at the new information.

There were still Nobodies... still Heartless... still an enemy that wouldn't let things be...

"Sora, look out!" Leon called to the brunet, and Sora looked up just in time to see the unwelcome visitor come from behind him, large sword raised. Not enough time for Reflect. Sora brought his Keyblade up, feeling the room enter a kind of slow motion. It was going to be close... would he make it?

Did he want to make it?

Leon cringed at the horror that followed. The man in black had brought his strange, light blue, huge sword down on Sora. The other had just made it with his defense. Sora had, however, fallen to one knee, struggling against the insistent push and momentum of the heavy weapon. They stayed locked like that for a few more seconds. All Sora could hear was his own breathing and blood pulsing. He couldn't for the life of him see the face under his opponent's hood.

Another blind adrenaline and anger rush enabled Sora to jump up, pushing back the man. They stood facing off for a few seconds that felt like an eternity. A bang echoed, breaking the stony silence. Another two followed, and all heads darted to the door, which now had dents. "Move" was heard from the other side, and after a beat, an explosion rocked the room, the now-mangled door flying back a few feet.

An incredibly calm Riku walked into the room, and bright green eyes narrowed at the man in black. "Hey!" The King ran in after, and looked confused. "Sora, Leon, what's going on?" he asked. Riku ran forward, Keyblade in hand, as another portal appeared, this one behind the man under the hood. A figure, again in the Organization's cloak, stepped out. "Sorry, Superior. They got in." The voice was obviously feminine, and she turned to walk toward Sora.

"Hey, so they're them, huh?" She said, eagerness and curiosity evident. The girl tilted her head and let out a giggle. "Hi, cutie." Sora stared at her strangely. What was going on?

The man turned around and created another portal. The sound made the girl turn around and run toward him. She let out another giggle and looked over her shoulder. "I'll see you later, cutie!" Before Sora could respond, she was gone, swallowed by the darkness. The man turned to walk, and Sora yelled out "Hey, wait! Who are you?"

He stopped, not looking back. "That...is a good question." He moved forward, and nobody moved to stop him. Sora was confused. That person...had sounded young...

Mickey walked toward them, and was the first to speak. "What happened, Sora?" The brunet replied hollowly, mind elsewhere. "I'm not sure. I fell through that portal and ended up here. That person was fighting Leon, and I stepped in. Then you all walked in." Here he turned to stare curiously at Riku. "What kept you guys?" (1)

"The door locked after that portal took you. We had to break it down with our Keyblades and magic." The silver-haired boy turned to Leon. "We made a bit of a mess. Sorry about that."

"It's alright. What's important is nobody got hurt." He turned to stare at them. "So, what brings you all here?" The reminder came crashing like an illness to Sora. "Well, Leon, there's trouble brewin' between the worlds. We think an old Keyblade master was revived somehow and is planning something." Mickey answered. "Really? That couldn't be good, I suppose." Leon said contemplatively, crossing his arms.

The group stood in silence. Depression and relief settled in the bottom of Sora's stomach as the feeling of threat subsided. Why couldn't people just stop already?

A flash filled Sora's mind, and like a film he saw a white room, holding two figures. One had impossibly spiky blond hair, wearing white and black clothes, deep blue eyes set in a furious glare at the other; a figure swathed in a red cloak, covered in various brown belts, his face wrapped in a red string of cloth, only one yellow eye visible. Behind the man there stood a large white pod. Sora stood between the two, and after a second realized that it was the room he had woken up in after a year of sleep.

"At last, the Keyblade's chosen one." Said the figure wrapped in red. The younger boy, Sora couldn't remember who he was, responded angrily. "Who are you talking to? Me? Or Sora?" What was going on? That voice was familiar...

Wait... Roxas?

"To half of Sora, of course. You reside in darkness. What I need is someone that can move about the realm of light and destroy Organization XIII." Seeming unsatisfied, Roxas continued. "Why? Who are you?" "I am a servant of the world." He let out a hollow laugh. "And if I'm a servant, you should consider yourself a tool, at best."

Roxas continued glaring, anger seeping into his voice at every word. "Was that... was that supposed to be a joke? 'Cause I'm not laughing!" His Keyblade appeared at the end of his line and he ran at the man, slashing through him once. Sora was surprised as the figure only shook, the attacked area changing into numbers before resuming its human form. "My apologies. This is only a data-based projection."

Sora could feel the anger pouring off Roxas as he screamed to the nonexistent ceiling, turning around to attack the hologram repeatedly, the numbers appearing and then going back to their program. About half a dozen slashes later, the hologram had disappeared, and Roxas stood, panting.

It wasn't two more seconds until the man had moved to stand in front of the white pod. "Come, over here." He said calmly to Roxas.

Then the scene faded to black, and Sora jumped. "What?" He looked around, meeting the curious gaze of Riku, the King, and Leon. "Uh," he said, putting a hand behind his head, "sorry, about that. Kinda zoned out for a minute." Riku continued to stare, and Sora knew he'd have to explain later. "It's okay, Sora. Why don't we go up to the lab and see if you all can find anything." Leon led the way back upstairs.

The King set to follow him, not looking to see if Sora and Riku followed. "So, Sora. What happened?" the taller boy said bluntly. Sora suppressed a sigh. "I had...a part of Roxas' memory playing through my head. I don't know, exactly, what it was." He decided not to tell Riku the part about where it was right before they had merged...

"Hm. Sora, do you think it means something?" Riku asked the question Sora had already known was coming. "I'm not sure, Riku. But, we've got too much to think about right now, don't we?" His gaze drifted to lock on the spot the Nobodies had disappeared to. "First Xehanort, then those guys... and now I'm seeing things. Great start to a journey, isn't it?" The bitter sarcasm didn't go unnoticed by the older. "Don't worry about it, Sora. Everything will turn out fine."

He turned to go after the King and Leon, and Sora silently sighed before following. On the way up, Sora deliberately walked slowly to gather time to think. Things were going too fast. New enemies kept appearing left and right. But why? Why was there now such a huge rush for everyone to get out in the open?

And why were Roxas' memories invading his mind? Was the Nobody trying to tell him something?

Sora let out a sigh that reverberated in the small staircase leading to the computer room. The noise became quieter as it rose toward the entrance, and Sora continued. He arrived at the room and stood beside Riku as the King typed on the computer, various screens coming up at every few strokes.

After a few tense minutes, the mouse sighed and turned to stare sadly at the boys. "There's nothing on here about Xehanort, or those Nobodies." Sora frowned. "Are you sure, your Majesty? There's nothing at all?" Mickey just shook his head. "I'm afraid not. All we have are the Ansem Reports." Riku waved his hand at Sora. "You have them, right Sora?"

The brunet felt a moment of indecision. Yes, he had brought them. But he had them nearly memorized already. The night after receiving King Mickey's letter he had taken them and read them through multiple times, trying to squeeze any more information out. All in vain, he thought venomously as he handed them to Riku, who passed the papers to the King.

Mickey scanned the papers, one after another, each time frowning deeper. Finally, he hung his hands and looked down, defeated. "I guess there's nothing here..." The room sat in a deep, still silence as the group pondered what would happen next.

Sora, growing impatient with the slow progress, finally spoke up. "Hey, why not go see if Kairi, Donald, and Goofy found out anything? We can see if Merlin finished the spell, too." The mouse perked up. "Good idea, Sora! Let's hope they did." He led the way out of the room, Sora and Riku following.

---

It was in a dark alley the portal materialized, a figure in a black cloak stepping out to face the other, a man with long white hair, bright yellow eyes, wearing black pants and a black, white and red shirt, a long-sleeved white jacket, almost reaching the ground and covered in black spikes. Belts decorated his guise and body, lined with pouches. His skin was lightly tanned, but it seemed as if he had not been in the sun for a while.

"What do you want?" The cloaked one called out harshly. Smiling mercilessly, the white haired man answered. "I seek to only help you in your goal." The other 'hmph'ed'. "And in return, what do you want?" Still smiling, his unnaturally white teeth gleaming in the semi-darkness, the man spoke patiently. "Our goals are the same. To destroy our enemies. Why not combine forces, so that we may all prosper?"

The man made another noise of disapproval, crossing his arms. "And if I deny this offer?" "Well, then, it will be your loss." The white haired man turned to walk away, and the cloaked figure uncrossed his arms. "It is not my own choice, you know." Stopping, and holding back a smile, the man dressed in white responded kindly. "I understand. Go, consult the others. Explain my offer to them, and return an answer."

As the man turned to walk again, the one hidden by a hood pondered his statement. Shaking his head, he summoned another portal. He sighed as he stared into it's depths. What would the others say to this new development?

---

Sora was deep in thought as the King opened the door to Merlin's house, but perked up as he vaguely heard Kairi calling his name. The pink-dressed girl was staring at him strangely, and he wondered what he'd done wrong. "Uh, sorry, Kairi. What'd you say?" He asked, smiling innocently. "Sora, you can be so slow sometimes." The red head answered with a playful look. "I was telling you that Donald, Goofy, and I couldn't find anything out in town." Sora nodded. Not surprising.

"So, where now?" Kairi asked, looking between the group expectantly. "Well, I don't remember seeing any other routes open on the way here, so we need to find what'll unlock one." Sora answered seriously. "That's right, Sora. Maybe we can ask Merlin for help?" The King supplied. Just in time, a blue and pink poof appeared in the middle of the room, and it cleared to reveal the white-bearded magician. "Uh, terribly sorry, your Majesty, but I can't complete the spell until I can obtain a sample of his essence."

"Essence? What's that?" Sora inquired, curious. "Well, my good boy, it's simply anything of his that was near him. Clothing, hair, skin, you know what I mean. And I need a sample of such a substance to find him." Sora nodded, but Mickey hung his head. "How're we gonna find that if we don't even know where he is?"

Sora shot Riku a look, unnoticed by the others. The silver-haired boy gave a slight nod, and Sora did the same, returning to feign ignorance.

"Your majesty, isn't it possible that Xehanort will try to convince those Nobodies to help him?" Here the mouse perked again. "That's right!" He exclaimed, swinging around to stare at the tallest. "Wait, what Nobodies?" Kairi interjected, looking lost.

The King blinked. "While we were at Ansem's Lab, Kairi, there was a Nobody fighting Leon. He was wearing the Organization cloak, so we think there might still be members alive." She looked horrified. "But I thought the last one was defeated!"

Sora bitterly thought what Mickey said aloud: "Me, too."

"So, you're saying there's more to do than just defeat Xehanort?" She shifted her gaze around the room, and everyone nodded. "Great. Just great." Kairi said, shaking her head.

-----

A portal sprung up in the white room, the only body present quickly pulling up their hood to conceal their face. The first figure ran through, and he could tell she was happy, even though he couldn't see her face. She continued to run past him, letting out a giggle.

Turning to gape at her, the nobody was stunned. What made Number 9 so happy? The sound of a second member entering the room had the man turning to stare as another male stepped in. Quickly bowing, the man dared to ask: "So I assume the mission went well, Superior?"

"Very well." His ears perked at the satisfied tone of Number 1's voice. "The Keyblade masters have begun their journey, Number 10." Eyes widening under the hood, he brought his head up. "No way..." The man dissipated the portal, nodding. "Hm. So it begins..."

(1) Note that even though Mickey was speaking, Sora asked Riku the question.


	4. Old Friends and New Enemies

Kairi looked depressed, Donald and Goofy were bored, Mickey was lost in thought, Sora was having his biggest internal fight ever, and Riku was simply watching. Merlin had already left to continue working on the spell, leaving the others to their plans.

"How about we split up?" Sora suggested out of nowhere. When everyone had turned to stare at him, surprised, he continued. "Riku, Donald and I can go one way, and Kairi, Goofy and the King can take another Gummi Ship and look for another route." Objections immediately slammed his face. "Sora, no! We promised we'd never be apart!" "Sora, the other Gummi Ships are under repairs. We can't use them right now." "Aw, Sora, why'd ya wanna split up me 'nd Donald? We've always traveled together!"

Covering his ears and wincing at the yells, Sora surrendered. "Ok, ok, relax! It was just an idea..." He frowned, and everyone went back to their thoughts. "Well, let's go see if any more worlds have opened up while we've been here!" The King suggested. Most of their group nodded and headed for the door, once again Sora being the only one to hesitate.

Even with his back turned, Sora could feel Riku gazing at him, thinking critically. "I'll be out in a minute, Riku." He didn't have to look to catch the taller boy's nod.

As soon as the door had shut, Sora took a deep breath. He walked over to the bookshelf, where an open tome was glowing slightly. Staring at it for a second, Sora closed it and hid the volume away.

-

It was a grassy field the trio lay in, staring contently at the sky. "So, Kiara, what do ya wanna do now?" A small, skinny meerkat called over his shoulder to the lion cub on his side. "I dunno." She rolled over and laid her chin on her paws. Curious eyes gazed over to a bleak, almost grey area on the border of her father's kingdom. "Can we go check that place out?"

Timon and Pumbaa sat up, lazily drifting to see where their charge was asking. Timon let out a strangled yell and stood up immediately, turning to gaze fearfully at the lion cub. "Oh, no! We're not going near that place! It's outside the Pride Lands; your father would kill us!" He threw his hands up and turned around. "Let's go find some more bugs to eat, why not that? Pumbaa!" The warthog trotted over and Timon climbed onto his head, grabbing the bigger's ears.

"Come on, Kiara, I think I found a nice rotting log with a colony inside yesterday afternoon of those big blue ones Pumbaa likes…" Timon continued chatting over his shoulder as he and Pumbaa rode off, Kiara not moving. The lioness cub cast one last look at her father's friends before turning around and stalking through the tall grass toward the outlands.

-

A flash of light announced the arrival of the group, startling for a second the bleak silence of the dead, brown plain. Then Sora emerged, dark brown fur and all, followed by Donald and Goofy. He looked back in curiosity as to what the others would be in the Pride Lands. Riku was scrutinizing his own grey paws carefully, shifting unsteadily on his now four feet. Sora pouted as he realized the other was still taller. Next was Kairi, who tripped over her newfound legs, red fur reflecting the strains of sunlight as the girl adjusted. Sora looked around, as did Donald and Goofy. "Has anyone seen the King?" he asked, everyone shaking their heads no.

"Well, that's weird…" Sora wondered to himself. He felt a scratching on his paw, and wiped it off. A second later it returned, and he swiped at it again. "Why is this grass so itchy?!" he mumbled, tottering around. "What are you talking about, Sora?" Kairi asked curiously, now sitting on two legs and staring at her friend. "I don't know! Something's really bugging me!"

Riku let out a small noise of surprise, followed by a laugh. "Riku! It's not funny!" Sora cried out, stomping a paw down. "Sora, I think that's the King you're gonna step on if you don't stop moving." Sora froze. "Huh?!" He looked on the ground, trying to peer through the half-dead grass. Suddenly a small black dot raced up his arm and settled on the top of his head. "What!?" Everyone but Sora started laughing as a little black mouse with too-big ears stilled in his spot and stared at them with big black eyes.

"You've **got** to be kidding me…" Sora groaned, the mouse on top of his head squeaking in some kind of fit. "Your Majesty, we can't hear you!" The brunet whined at the King.

Mickey settled down, Sora guessed opting to seethe on top of his head. "Well, Riku, Kairi, these are the Pride Lands." He cast his gaze finally out over the open plains, and frowned upon seeing it in less than great condition. "That's weird…what happened? Goofy, Donald, I can't even see Pride Rock from here!"

"Me neither!"

"Nu uh here!"

"Huh. That's so weird…oh, well. What should we do?" He turned to see if Riku and Kairi had any ideas, to which they just shrugged. "Great. And I'm not sure which way it is… guess we'll just have to start walking." The group gave a general nod and followed as Sora turned around and began walking into the distance.

It was after ten minutes of walking that Sora groaned. "I can't see anything! When did the grass get so high!?" Kairi sighed. "Sora, would you relax!? I think we're almost through, look ahead!" Sora fumbled with the tall, sharp grass a moment (and an annoying squeaky mouse on his head), and then saw a few beams of light breaking through the shadows.

He let out a laugh and ran ahead, bounding over the stalks of dead plants until he came out into the small circular clearing. The sun was setting in front of him and it felt like finding the Door to Light all over again. He hopped around in the open space as the others eventually emerged, watching the Keyblade master with some amusement and some impatience (cough a certain handicapped mouse cough). Still smiling, Sora's ears perked up. Everyone else (that had ears, anyway) soon followed suit. The party fell silent as an argument became audible a few feet away.

"Stop it! Let me go!"

"You're not asking nicely…"

"I don't care! Let me out of here so I can go home!"

"Poor little girl, all lost and alone…"

"You're not any older than me!"

A pair of snarls was heard, followed by a thud. Immediately the group rushed forward, peeking silently through slits in the tall grass as two lion cubs were fighting in another small circle, the darker one obviously at the advantage. The second, pinned to the ground by the darker, had light fur and was sleeker, the female voice from the conversation.

"We should help her!" Kairi harshly whispered to everyone else, the two fighters oblivious to their audience as the girl managed to push off the boy. "No, Kairi, we should stay low." Riku responded quietly before Sora could say it. Mickey was squeaking something more on Sora's head, but everyone pretty much ignored him.

The brown-furred cub laughed lowly and back up. "I like you. You've got spunk. I'm Kovu." The girl stared warily. "I'm…Kiara…" He smiled easily. "So, what are you doing out here? It's a long way from anyone's home." Kiara wanted to run, but knew she couldn't outrun him. "I ditched. I was curious about what was out here." Kovu laughed. Kiara found herself liking the sound. "There's not much. And, I should warn you…" he trailed off vaguely, pulling in her curiosity, "my mother doesn't take kindly to strangers."

A pair of gleaming eyes watched from each side of the clearing as the two cubs chatted animatedly, each watching the other's child closely.

Kairi sighed and resolved to lowering herself to lie in the crunchy grass as the others watched the apparent conversation. There was no danger right now; they really shouldn't be eavesdropping like this… Blue eyes drifted shut as Kairi let out an inaudible yawn.

--

Kairi found herself floating in midair. She was back in her old body, somehow, and looking around, the redhead felt a weight drop in her stomach. Above her a giant black and purple hole set against a blacker sky was sucking up everything from old wood to tree parts. Looking down her heart wrenched. Sora, as he looked before their journeys began, was standing on the ruinous sand of their Island, surrounded by wreckage, barely standing. _How did she know it was their old home? There was only a pitiful piece of land, and that marred by the storm overhead... _Strangely, Namine was standing a short distance away, talking to Sora, perfectly fine and unaffected by the darkness overhead.

"Sora...I have to tell you the truth." The blonde said, a fist clenched over where her heart should be. "Namine, we have to get out of here!" Said girl only looked at the brunet sadly. "It was never me, Sora. Am I really the one you want to protect?" Sora, confused, called back: "Of course, who else would there be? We played together on the island...all the time." Namine shook her head sadly. "It wasn't me, Sora." Even from above, Kairi could hear the desperation in Sora's voice as clearly as if she was standing next to him. "What are you talking about?!"

Another figure appeared behind Sora, and he turned around as Kairi looked at another Namine. Both sets of blue eyes flew back to the first blonde before switching back to the copy, who before their eyes, transformed in a blur into Kairi. The Kairi that Sora and Riku had left on their Island over a year ago. She smiled at him, standing still in the great storm. Once again confused, Sora called out tentatively, "Kairi?"

--

Suddenly a paw was shaking Kairi, and the red-haired girl jumped up with a start. Riku was there, staring at her strangely. Her groggy blue eyes adjusted from the flashback, and she noticed that Sora, Donald, and Goofy were gone. Startled, Kairi shot up. Her gaze locked on the scene that had developed during her (what was it? daydream? nightmare? ...memory? hell if she knew).

A whole group was facing off tensely in the circle where two lion cubs had once been talking. On one side was the small female, a much larger and regal looking male, Sora, Donald, and Goofy; and on the other stood the dark furred male cub and a thin, sickly looking female. The adults were watching each other warily, the female's eyes sometimes darting to the trio behind him.

"Kovu, it's time to go back." She said sweetly to him, voice holding a slight threat behind it, eyes still focused on the wary male. "But, mom, I--" "Kovu, I said it's time to go!" The smaller lion shut his mouth quickly and seemed to shrink in his skin. He turned sad dark eyes on the girl, who was held in the grip of the maned lion, who didn't move except to watch the movements of the adult female. "Sorry..." he muttered under his breath to her before his mother picked him up with her mouth and turned to stalk stealthily away.

Kairi looked curiously at Kiara. The poor girl seemed ready to cry, both out of fear at what had just happened and that her friend was being taken away. It struck a chord in Kairi that something so sad should happen so soon. A few tense seconds passed as the lioness stalked through the tall grass, but eventually the male relaxed, followed by Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

With a tension-breaking nervous laugh, Sora spoke up. "So, Simba, what's new with you?" The lion turned to smile at the young cub and let out an easy laugh. "Well, Nala and I are married and this is our daughter, Kiara." He pushed forward the young female, who shied back into her father physically, but watched Sora and the others curiously. Simba cut his eyes to the side for a second. "So, Sora, I think you've found your friends?"

Beside Kairi, Riku let out a chuckle before stepping through the grass and into the clearing. Not exactly sure of what to do, Kairi followed quietly. "Yep. This is Riku," he motioned to the grey lion, slightly bigger than himself, who nodded silently in recognition, "and that's Kairi." Almost every pair of eyes focused on the reddish brown lioness cub and, caught off-guard, she simply nodded nervously in return. "And we even made it back to the Islands, for a little bit..." Sora trailed off and an awkward silence enveloped the group.

"Who was that?" Kairi questioned in an effort to break the silence. Everyone stared at her for a second. "I mean, who was that lioness?" Simba sighed. "She's one of Scar's old followers. Who knows what's going on with them nowadays. They were banished from the Pride Lands more than a year ago." Kairi's blue eyes focused on Kiara. "And the boy? Was that her son?" "It would seem so." Simba said thoughtfully. Suddenly he turned to face the young girl.

"And what were you doing out here? Timon and Pumbaa were worried sick, not to even start on how your mother and I felt!" Kiara faltered some. "I'm sorry. I thought it would be-I just-I-" Simba cut off her stuttered attempts with a sigh. "It doesn't matter. All that I care about is that you're safe now. Let's get back to Pride Rock, all. It's a fair amount of time to travel."

Sora nodded, as did Donald and Goofy, and when they set off, Riku silently followed. Kairi, catching onto the chain of command, so different than what she was used to, followed after Riku.

Meanwhile, four eyes watched from a few yards away, out of earshot of the large party. "This should be fun, eh, Xsujint?" A voice snickered in eagernss. "I think we should get back and tell the others first, Lyrxet, about the Keyblade Masters being in the worlds already."

"Aaaawww..." the first whined, "you take the fun out of everything. But fine, let's go. I bet Xia will be raring to go." A laugh was heard, but was cut off. "You know as well as I do that jYexrem won't allow it." The first sighed heavily. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just go spread the word, shall we? This world isn't even gonna be a problem for our forces when the Superior gets everything organized." A rustle was heard in the tall grass as the second nodded. "It should be easy enough, as long as the Masters are not present. And who knows? jYexrem, being what he is, probably already knows of their return."

Bursting through the half-dead growth came a dark grey lion, small in size but sleek for speed. The other followed, with reddish fur and more muscle, but calmer. Lyrxet shook his dark grey, almost black, mane and smiled darkly. Watching blankly, Xsujint stared at the other. "Soon. Kingdom Hearts will be made again, and we'll all have our hearts. jYexrem promised on his title as Xemnas' heir of the Nobody's Call that we'd win." A dark aura appeared around him, and his paws dug into the dirt in a clench.

"Lyrxet, please calm down. It wouldn't do for your Chaos to be unleashed now. We have to go inform the Order." Xsujint said plainly, shaking his dark red mane to emphasize his point. The aura then dissipated and Lyrxet relaxed. "Ok, let's go!" With a nod, Xujint opened a portal to the side of the pair and they silently exited.

_(In another world...)_

A door opened and two figures stepped through, black boots echoing slightly around the all-white room. The only other figure present was a boy with semi-long, dark brown hair that reflected the glow of the room. He turned as the two approached, both stooping into a bow as they neared. "Superior," the first spoke, "the Keyblade Masters have returned. There are four of them this time, though." A chuckle escaped the standing body. "Xsujint, Lyrxet, you both have done well. I know of the Masters. They will help us reach our goal, as they originally helped the fallen Xemnas." He cast a hand out over their bowed heads. "Go back to the Pride Lands. Watch them. Do not take action until you are ordered to do so."

They both nodded and stood up, wordlessly turning and walking into a summoned portal. The brown eyes of Number 1 watched, excited, as his subordinates left. As the shadows of the portal diminished, he smirked and turned to walk out a second door. It was time to inform the rest of 18th Order of the new party.

_(Back in the Pride Lands)_

Kairi was thinking as Sora chatted with Simba ahead. Her blue eyes were watching Kiara carefully as the cub sulked behind her father and to the side away from Sora. Riku was on Sora's left as the brunet caught up with the older lion on his right. Donald and Goofy followed behind Sora. Kairi brought up the rear, following behind Simba and Kiara. The youngest seemed to try to shrink into the dust as they continued.

"Hey, Kiara." She whispered. The other slowed, slightly turning her head to look over her shoulder at the other girl. Kairi nodded for her to back up, and Kiara slowly did. Simba and the others hadn't noticed, and Kairi spoke in a whisper. "So, what happened?" Kiara sighed, and began uncomfortably. "I snuck away from my baby-sitters and got lost. Kovu found me and we started talking. We were getting to be friends..." she trailed off then, looking at the ground. Kairi cast her a sympathetic look.

"Well, then his mom jumped out and in front of him. Then my dad jumped in front of me. They talked a little bit. Kovu's...the son of the leader of a rogue pack. They followed Scar, my great-uncle, when he was in power." She paused here, voice subdued. Kairi looked at her curiously. "Who's Scar?" Kiara jolted her head up and gave her a strange look. "Scar? How do you not know who Scar is?" All Kairi could do was shake her head. "Oh. Right. Scar was my great-uncle. A lion, the brother of my grandfather, a wise and strong and kind leader of the pride. He...killed my grandfather in a stampede so he could rule. Called it an accident. Everyone believed him, and he told them my dad had been killed, too."

Both looked as Simba as he continued to tell Sora the news of the Pride Lands since they last met. "And they believed that, too. But Scar was a terrible ruler. The herds died out quickly, and the pride nearly starved to death. But then my father came back. He defeated Scar, and took his rightful place as leader. Then he married Nala, my mom, and had me."

Kairi 'hm'ed thoughtfully. "But..." Blue eyes looked at the younger girl and the confused tone. "Dad says I shouldn't judge people on their past or the people they're with. But isn't that what everyone just did? Your friends, they immediately took my dad's side when our parents came out. And my dad was ready to attack that woman and Kovu, even though he hadn't done anything." Kiara lapsed into silence, and Kairi offered her thoughts.

"I think your father just wants to protect you. That's what all good parents want, is to keep their kids safe. He was afraid that lioness would hurt you, and tried to stop it. And Sora only took his side because Simba's his friend. Sora..." her tone softened, and Kiara looked up at her, "is a good friend. He'll give himself up before he lets anyone else get hurt." A flash of Sora falling to the ground, a faint memory of herself reaching out to try and protect a Shadow, and a picture of her and him, hugging. Kiara nodded. "You're probably right, Kairi. But what about Kovu?"

She sounded so distressed. Kairi snapped out of her flashbacks and nodded. "Kovu...it'll work out. Everything that's supposed to work out will, I promise." Kiara was awed at the other's conviction and assurance. "Maybe it will..." she mumbled to herself, letting a small smile show at the memory of a confident smile and captivating brown eyes...

Laughter floated through the air, several lion heads perking up at the familiar sound. A lioness scrambled to the cave entrance and looked eagerly out. She smiled widely and let out a laugh. "Simba!" Nala lept forward as her mate looked up, smiling. She met him, nuzzling his neck and he let out a chuckle in response. "Nala, look who's here." The lioness pulled back, and her eyes darted behind Simba to the once-again sulking and nervous looking lioness cub. "Kiara!"

Her look of surprise was quickly overtaken by worry. "Are you okay!? Where were you, what were you doing, I was so worried!" She pushed back and surrounded her daughter, and the girl shrunk back even more. "Oh, Simba, is she alright, I don't see any injuries." Simba stepped forward, stopping her circling and smiling at his worried mate. "Don't worry, she's fine. Look who _else _is here to visit."

Confused, her eyes darted to Kairi, who was closest, then to Donald and Goofy, then Riku, and finally her gaze settled on Sora, who smiled goofily in gretting. A gasp escaped before she smiled. "Sora, Donald, Goofy! It's good to see you all!" Quickly scanning over Riku and Kairi again, she asked "Are these the friends you were looking for?" Sora nodded proudly. "That's great!"

Four eyes, two blue, two black as shadows, watched from a distance as the conversation continued, one body fidgeting impatiently. "Lyrxet, be patient. jYexrem told us not to get discovered. We can't afford to get into a fight, we're way too outnumbered." The lion let out an aggravated sigh. "I know, I know. But I'm ready to go!" Xsujint continued to whisper. "Take a break and report to the Castle if you must." A 'tch' was heard from the growth. "No way. I'd get chewed out for leaving a mission right in the middle!" He couldn't see it, but Xsujint rolled his eyes. "Then be still and be quiet." Lyrxet 'hmph'ed and calmed down, leaning to rest him jaw on his front paws.

"Simba, I'll take Kiara to get cleaned up and fed." Nala said, whisking away the youngest before anyone could object. Simba laughed faintly. "So, Simba?" Sora asked, seriously. The older turned and became serious as well. "What's wrong, Sora? Why are the Heartless back and you all not home?" Sora sighed wearily. "There're more threats to the worlds and Kingdom Hearts. Organization 13 is back, and that's not all." "Sounds like you've all got a lot on your plate." Simba commented solemnly. Sora nodded. "Well, we'll keep the fort down here and the world safe. And we'll get word to you if we see anyone suspicious."

"Thanks, Simba." An awkward silence descended upon the gloomy group. Kairi, who had been hanging in the back, now stepped forward. "Those lions, Kovu and his mother?" Simba frowned immediately. "Don't worry. They've been here for a while. Without Scar, I doubt they're any threat."

_(In another another world...)_

A man stepped through a portal, his heavy boots echoing in the white room. Four others in similiar clothing turned their heads, hidden under hoods, to watch him. His form heaved a sigh as he began to address them. "Xehanort wishes for an alliance, Order. He says he will help us achieve our goal if we help him destroy the Keyblade Masters."

"It's a convenient offer. We can use him to destroy the others and after Kingdom Hearts is completed, we will take down the Masters." Another male spoke, his voice sharp and harsh. "But what if he wishes for us to destroy the Keyblade wielders before Kingdom Hearts is completed?" A girl asked, her light voice hiding her eagerness and scheming mind. "It is not part of our goal to destroy a pawn while it is still useful, Xamaris, you know that. And so does Xehanort." The first male nodded at the new voice. "Exactly, Xelcra. He knows that if he wants our help, he must help us first."

"But Draxian," the second speaker protested, "why might he not assume the same?" He turned to face him under the hood, and the man felt his strange leering smile. "Xaneth, it would not make sense. We need Kingdom Hearts, then we will help Xehanort. But if we destroy the Keyblade wielders first, there will be no chance for us and Xehanort has no allies."

"So, it is agreed?" The fifth voice spoke out, another female. Her statement ushered in total silence over the other four. "We will accept Xehanort's offer, and make it clear that we will have Kingdom Hearts first. Then we will destroy the Keyblade Masters as well as our other opposition." The four nodded silently. "Excellent."


	5. Problems with Pride

Notes: Kairi and Mickey bashing continues (a bit) a lot here. Sorry if it irks you, but it's for the plot, so if it does bug you then I suggest you stop reading here. (enter magical BACK BUTTON theme song) and i kept forgetting they're lions a lot. gr.

_Recap: "Don't worry. They've been here for a while. Without Scar, I doubt they're any threat."..."We will accept Xehanort's offer, and make it clear that we will have Kingdom Hearts first. Then we will destroy the Keyblade Masters as well as our other opposition."_

/end recap

Simba listened somberly as Sora, Donald, and Goofy retold their adventure since the group had last met, Riku and Kairi filling in holes where Sora had been absent. The brunet spoke of foreign places and people Kairi and Riku could only imagine, so they mostly stayed silent. At the end of Sora's story, the lion nodded. "That explains it. The Heartless are back, Sora. I ran into some the other day in the Wastelands." Sora nodded. "They'll never leave. Not until all the darkness is gone." An uneasy silence fell then, everyone considering the paradox presented.

"Anyway, Simba?" Kairi asked politely, grabbing the attention of all (even a squeaky little mouse, which Sora winced at as the King pulled his hair to get his attention). "Yes, Kairi?" The reddish lioness cub bluffed confidence. "Why are some lions like Kovu and his mother?" Not exactly the tactful phrase she'd had in mind, but it got the question out. At her question the male sighed and shook his head. "Those lions were banished from the Pride Lands a long time ago because they supported my brother Scar when he ruled the pride. After he died, they tried to destroy the pride and take over the land, so they were banished. Now they live somewhere in the Wastelands, I think barely surviving, too proud to admit their mistakes."

"What if one did?" The young and old met eyes. Kairi was brimming with hope and innocence, Simba with skepticism and hurt. "What do you mean?" He carefully questioned. "If one of them did come back, ask to be forgiven, if he truly regretted the past, would you let him in?" They both knew she meant Kovu. Only Simba knew that wasn't happening. "I would."

The two lions in the bushes smiled, but the gleeful snarles seemed menacing on their fierce faces. "She's too pure, Xsujint. Too innocent of the real world for this journey, don't you think?" With a nod, the blue-eyed lion agreed. "She does not yet know enough to be an asset. But, knowing our Order, we'll find a way to use that." Lyrxet chuckled. "That's for sure. Hey," and here he turned his head to smile insanely at the other, "how about we teach her a bit?"

Xsujint's eyes narrowed. "No. You heard jYexrem. We don't do anything until he tells us to." Lyrxet scoffed. "You are such a kiss up, Xsujint, really. All we have to do is catch her alone and rough her up a bit." The grin had faded with the insult's rise, but now reappeared. "One more heart towards our Kingdom won't hurt." Xsujint sighed. "You want to be the one to do it? Go ahead, see what our leader says to it." Lyrxet matched his sigh and over-dramatized it. "C'mon, you know I wouldn't! Just a suggestion..."

Sora and Simba were nodding again, and the adult turned, walking in the direction his mate and daughter had left earlier. Sora and Riku traded significant glances before Sora turned and nodded to Donald and Goofy. Kairi, feeling lost, turned to stare at Riku. Without looking back, the grey-silver lion responded. "There are two enemies hiding in the grass. Don't look--" for Kairi, startled, had been about to--"but we think we can take them. With any luck, they'll give us some information."

From the grass Lyrxet chuckled lowly. "Xsujint, it seems they've found us anyway. And they want to fight. What say you, o mighty commander of Fonons?" he asked sarcastically. With an aggravated sigh, Xsujint stood a little taller and walked with the grey-furred lion out into the clearing. Each party scanned the other at first, seeming relaxed, nobody moving to summon weapon, though the small area did suffocate with the tension of battle.

Kairi felt oddly out of place and almost sick with expectation.

"So, you're the Keyblade Wielders, huh?" The lion on the group's left asked casually, a playful smile on his face as his grey fur carelessly fell as he tilted his head. "You look too young." Sora's tone was angry as he called back "You two can't be much older, and you're Nobodies!"

Xsujint was growing annoyed and a bit unsettled by the Keyblade Master's stubborness. "Lyrxet, I know you were itching for a fight, but let me take this one."

The other chuckled darkly and stepped back. "I'll enjoy the show." The Nobody approached the group as most of them prepared for battle. Sora, Donald, and Goofy had all summoned their weapons, and Riku was right behind them. Only Kairi stood uncertainly, subconsciously crouching slightly behind the more experienced fighters.

"Give up, Heros of Light." Xsujint ordered mockingly.

"Never!" Sora yelled back defiantly.

"Then I shall enjoy destroying your rebellion!" Xsujint ran forward and jumped, flipping forward to land in between the battle area. As he descended, a white glow appeared in front of him, and the Nobody called out "Slag Assault!" before slamming into the ground. The ground trembled upon impact, and a harsh rumbling filled the air before the earth itself shuddered outwards from the blow, sending a wave of solid ground forward. The party had covered their faces at the landing, and had missed the aftershock, and everyone was sent flying back.

Donald was flipped back the furthest, and fell to the earthy floor with a light thump. Goofy was turned on his back and skidded a few feet away, legs flailing in the air. Sora was pushed onto his back after resisting in vain (Mickey still insistently pulling on his hair), and Riku was kneeling near him. Kairi had let out a small yell when the attack connected and had been pushed to the left of Sora and Riku and more than a few feet back. The redhead had landed on her side, faced away from the rest of the fight.

"Kairi!" Sora called out, jumping back onto his paws and casting a worried glance at her before glaring at Xsujint and aiming his Keyblade at the enemy, shooting a thick bolt of light at the Nobody before he raced to the side of his second-best friend. Riku was up at nearly the same time and cast a quick look at the two before running forward and engaging the bigger lion.

Lyrxet had backed away early in the fight, a twisted, eager smile being broadcast at the opponents. This should be a good fight.

By now Donald and Goofy had regained their footing, and were doing all they could to help Riku fight Xsujint, but the Nobody was fast, managing to dodge most of Goofy's attacks and deflecting almost all of Donald's spells. The only one getting to him was Riku. Xsujint might have been fast, but so was Riku, and with the added distraction of Donald and Goofy, the three were getting in some heavy damage. At the first opportunity he could take, the Nobody backflipped out of the fray and tried to recover. One could now get a look at his weapon, and the combatants noticed its strange shape, resembling the sign of the Nobodies.

"The Nobody Sword, the Key of Lorelei," he answered their stares smugly. The lion lowered his head and charged at Donald, sword gripped in his mouth, blade dragging on the ground. Goofy and Riku immediately began to give chase as Donald prepared a spell, but it wasn't going to work. In a split second about three things happened: Donald finished his casting and lightning bolts rained down on the field, Riku reached the point of almost-conflict and just barely managed to dodge a strike of white, and Xsujint turned sharply to his side, bringing his blade up to catch Riku off-balance, knocking the smaller lion into the air.

"Light Spear Canon!" The Nobody called out triumphantly, spinning on his back paws to jab upwards at the diagonal, aimed at the flying Riku. Unluckily for him, Riku twisted at the last second and was able to block the strike with his own Keyblade, at the same time using that momentum to launch himself away from Xsujint, landing a few feet back in front of a frantic Goofy. The Nobody was angrily stunned at the rebuttal, staring around at the reorganized battlefield.

While Riku, Donald, and Goofy had been busy with Xsujint, Sora had rushed over to Kairi. Soon enough the girl had sat up with a groan, and Sora had hurriedly pulled her up on her paws. Dazed, she had given him a smile of thanks. Unfortunately he had taken that as a sign that she was fully okay, and gave Kairi a quick nod before running off to join the fight. She stood around for a second more, confused, before shaking her head and watching the battle in awe.

She'd only ever fought with Riku before, and then their childish spars on the Islands. But this was on a whole new level--the constant back and forth, a flash of magic every now and then, the horrible sound of blades meeting. Kairi's stomach wrenched as she felt herself frowning. The only time she had ever wanted to fight was when she had to. In The World That Never Was, she **needed **to get to Sora, to be by his side after a year, to fully remember him again. To keep their promise.

But this was pointless. This wasn't to save all the worlds, to stop the destruction of lives and families. It was a bunch of boys being boys. She felt a bit agitated and left out as the brown-haired boy joined his friends against the Nobody. They could fight. They beat Xemnas. They could beat **anyone**. So what was she there for? It was only Shadows back then, this was entirely different. She didn't want to fight, didn't want to be here. But what could she do? It was too late to back down now, their journey had already begun.

The world, more specifically the fight, hadn't waited on the girl's musings. Sora had arrived in time to see Riku recover from the impact, and the four now had the Nobody at a disadvantage. Dodging and blocking had taken its toll on Xsujint, it was obvious in the way his chest heaved with breath and his eyes darted wildly between the fighters. He couldn't quite hold his sword steady in his defensive stance against the Keyblade Masters, Mage, and Knight. To top it off, none of them were more than breathing a bit harder than normal. Xsujint growled to himself.

"Lyrxet!" It was more an order than a call for help, and the smaller lion let out a laugh before running into the fray, flipping over Sora to land right beside his comrade. "Let's go!" Was shouted by the smaller lion before he rolled to the side and Xsujint jumped high into the air, flipping and swiping at the ground with his blade, now covered in a black aura. Underneath, Lyrxet was concentrating on Xsujint as their opponents watched in apprehension.

When the sword scratched the ground, the black aura spread out and engulfed it, turning the gray earth into near-black. As Xsujint began to fall, the lion turned face-down, his sword pointed at the middle of his cooked earth. At the same time, both Nobodies shouted "Devil's Chaotic Inferno!" right before impact. The last motion on the field was Lyrxet being surrounded by an impenetrable wall of darkness before Xsujint crashed into the ground, sending huge blasts of earth in every direction at the Heros of Light.

In nearly the same instant as the ground exploded, three weapons had gone into the air, and three flashes of magic had taken effect.

When the dust kicked up from the attack had gone down and the shaking had stopped, a dome of black began to fade away, revealing Lyrxet inside. Meeting Xsujint's crazy grin, the Chaos-master let out a hollow laugh of victory. He looked around at the battlefield, or what was left of it. A huge crater marked the previously flat plain, ugly black scars from the burning earth streaking out away from Xsujint's impact point. Jags of earth jutted into the air a few feet, and two of the fighters had been blown away, the other two down and unconscious.

Donald groaned as he picked up his head. Reflect didn't work that well that time. Seeing nothing but the victoriously smiling Nobodies, a shot of panic made him jump up into flight. "Sora! Goofy! Riku!" He looked around frantically, finally spotting Goofy on his back a few feet away. "Goofy!" The white bird flapped crazily over, the memory of the Hollow Bastion incident springing to the front of his mind. He ruffled himself trying to shake the turtle into consciousness, and in a minute Goofy picked his head up and shook it, opening to unfocused eyes. "Goofy, you're ok!" The Knight let out his usual laugh. "Of course I'm okay, Donald. Like I said, I get hit on the head all the time!" Donald let out a sigh. "Get up, we gotta find Sora and Riku!" With a start, Goofy managed to turn himself over and the two looked back to the ruined battleground.

Sora picked himself up with a groan. Weird, that attack looked a lot stronger than it felt, even though it only knocked him down. Had...? His eyes scanned the area for Riku, and finally spotted the gray lion a few feet away, crouched low in the wreckage and watching the scene carefully. The two Nobodies were chatting quickly, harshly about what to do now. Xsujint seemed to not believe they were dead, and Lyrxet was ignoring him and going on about how they'd won. Sora stared at Riku again. They were in the clear, the opponents hadn't realized they were awake yet. Right now they had options, but no time to think about them.

As if sensing his gaze, Riku looked over to Sora, a serious look on his face, and nodded. Nodding back, the brunet Keyblade Master took aim and began to charge a beam of light at the duo. Still arguing, the Nobodies didn't see the beam until it had already fired, and only Xsujint was able to act fast enough, stabbing the ground with his sword and bringing up another wall of earth to block the attack.

It failed, but was able to minimize the power enough so that when it broke through, Lyrxet only took a small hit to his shoulder, falling down and rolling on the ground. He let out a deep growl and quickly recovered, spinning on his back legs to glare at Sora. "How dare you, insolent brat!" He seemed to glow black, and his paws dug into the ground.

A rumbling started in the distance, and the group all looked up and over across the Savannah. In the distance a bulky shadow was emerging, and Lyrxet let out a hollow laugh. "You lose, Heroes!" The 'whoosh' of a portal startled the group out of their gaping, and Sora turned around to see his two opponents walking calmly away. "No!" Sora tried to catch them, but by the time he was close enough, the portal was already gone. "They got away!" Sora turned around, anger burning through his body. As Riku and the others approached, the silver-maned lion shot Sora a warning look, and the brunet took a deep breath.

"Are you all okay?" Kairi asked tentatively. The battle looked fierce, but everyone was moving around well enough, so she guessed they were alright. When everyone gave a confirming nod, Riku spoke. "What is that over there?" The second original three looked over to the growing black cloud and sighed. "Well, it's in the area of the Elephant Graveyard, but it looks farther away. Maybe where we were before Simba found us?" Riku nodded thoughtfully, but Kairi frowned. "Isn't that where Kovu and his mother are?" Sora nodded. "I think so." Without a pause, the redhead continued. "I think we should go help them." More than one surprised look met her announcement. "But Kairi!" "No, Sora, think about it. They've never done anything to hurt us and if the Organization gets to them, won't they hurt them?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Sora faltered, and Riku picked up his train of thought. "Kairi, it's none of our business. If they want to work with the Nobodies, we don't have the right to interfere. And if the Organization decides to take that part of the world, then so be it. Darkness is half of everything, and worlds are no exception. I don't think we should mess with it."

Kairi was disturbed a little by his choice of words. Was darkness really half? What about her? Princess of Heart, none of the seven had any darkness in their hearts. What did that make them? But she shook her head and pushed. "But who knows? If we let the darkness take that one part, why wouldn't it want more?" A subtle glare from Riku made her stop. "Remember Kairi. Don't fear the darkness, only who's inside."

"Those Nobodies are in the darkness, Riku. I don't fear them, and I don't want to let them win." She was lying through her teeth about not being afraid, and Riku was probably the only one who could tell, but so be it. "Kairi..." Sora interrupted. "I think we should go look. Just to check it out." Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement, and Riku shook his head in defeat.

"Alright, fine. But don't expect me to be nice when it's a trap." With that, the tallest lion turned around and began walking off in the direction of the massing cloud. Sora and Kairi traded a knowing but guilty smile before following after, Donald and Goofy trailing behind. On top of a mess of chocolate brown hair, a small black mouse let out a heavy sigh and resigned himself to being only a witness in this world.

/end chapter

Review?

Next time: the conclusion of the Pride Lands and the next world awaits!


	6. Strange Hopelessness

Ok, I know. Pride Lands ends here. Now gimme some cookies and I'll update faster

RECAP

_"Fine, but don't expect me to be nice when it's a trap."_

/end recap

000000000

Sora looked around as they left what seemed to be the invisible border between the Elephant Graveyard and the Forbidden Lands. Between their closeness in distance and time passed since they first saw the cloud of darkness, it had grown until it formed a kind of dome over the area. Tendrils of shadows escaped the spherical enclosure, and the group of five stopped a few feet in front of it.

"Should we go inside?" Sora asked no one in particular, glad for the King's silence on top of his head for once. Riku, Sora guessed, rolled his eyes and stepped forward. "You wanted to come all the way out here, Sora." He disappeared into the darkness, and Sora and Kairi followed with little hesitation. Donald and Goofy were the last to pass through the veil, emerging into a heavily shadowed area with a shudder. "That's cold!" The white bird squwaked, drawing the attention of the lions before him. Kairi nodded. "Yeah, it is." Sora and Riku traded surprised looks. "I thought it was warm, actually." Sora put in, Riku nodding in agreement. "Weird..." The brunet surmized, shrugging it off as the group procedded into the shadowy rocks.

Riku and Sora led Kairi, who was flagged on either side by Donald and Goofy. A jagged path scattered with small cliffs and spires met their trek, and several times they got seperated, only to catch whoever had gotten lost ten seconds later in a twist in the path. "It's like a big maze..." Sora observed after Kairi had been found the second time. "Yeah," Riku continued, "only all the paths are entwined. I wonder if they all end in one place?" Kairi looked around. "Hey... doesn't this place look familiar?" Everyone else proceeded to look around, and Donald made a noise and landed near a rock. "Hey, yeah! Goofy tripped over this rock and it turned over. It's the same rock!"

"So we're going in circles?" The turtle asked. "I guess so..." Sora answered, voice subdued. "So what do we do? We still don't know what caused the darkness or what's in here." Kairi pointed out. Silence met her obvious statement. "Why don't we just look around some more. If we come to a split, take a route we haven't taken before. Look for footprints in the sand. We're lucky there aren't any Heartless around here." The others nodded in agreement and continued to walk deeper into the ruins...

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

_(In another world...)_

Two figures stood in an empty, tall room with dark walls and little light. The shorter, a thin female with greenish skin and large black cape, screamed. "Kingdom Hearts is gone again!" She waved her staff around in anger, finally slamming the end into the solid floor. "So now we have to start aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllll over again, ain't that right, Maleficent?" Called out the taller, a big dog-type being. She 'hm'phed and nodded. "All we have are the Heartless. We must keep sending them after the Keyblade Masters to get the hearts!"

She walked across the room, headed for an arc leading outside to overlook the Radiant Garden. A swoosh of darkness caught her attention, and she turned around to see a slightly familiar man with dark skin and long, light hair, wearing a complicated white jacket littered with belts and other trinkets. "Hm? Who are you, and why do you DARE enter my Castle!?" She yelled angrily at him. The man, his arms crossed, merely 'hn'ed. "You are the one in control of the Heartless. But I need them for my goals. Relinquish your control over them to me." His voice was deep, and Maleficent heard the power this being contained in that simple order.

"Why should I? I also need the Heartless for my desires." She smiled evilly. "And the Heartless obey whoever is strongest. The only way they'd follow you is if you were able to defeat me." She turned fully around, giving her cape an intimidating throw to emphasize her point. Her uninvited guest merely smirked. "Then I challenge you. Right here and now." His eyes slid to the side, indicating he had known of Pete's presence. "Your subordinate is also welcome to join you, if you believe he will be of any help."

"Pete will not be joining us." Maleficent stated. "In fact," here she smiled again, looking past the newcomer and at her companion, "Pete, if you would, go ready a Heartless force to invade while I take care of this nuisance." The huge dog-like man hesitated for a second, not exactly willing to leave his boss with this strange and incredible power. But at a glare from the woman, Pete hurried out of the room, letting out a breath of relief when he was away from the intruder.

0000000000000

_(Pride Lands)_

"Guys, I'm tired, let's rest." Kairi called from behind the group, her whine echoing slightly in the cool tunnel. "C'mon, Kairi, we're getting closer. I can feel it!" Sora smiling encouragingly at his friend, but she simply shook her head. "He's right, Kairi. We are getting closer to the center of the darkness. Whatever's causing this is a bit ahead." Sora nodded at Riku's explanation. "We can't stop now, guys!" Donald and Goofy watched the scene quietly. When Kairi hesitantly nodded, they figured there was no point in arguing either, so they nodded, which nobody saw, and followed the Destiny Islands trio.

In a few minutes, a whispered conversation was heard by the group, and everybody froze_. What was going on here?_ They all sped up quietly, hiding behind a few tall rocks, peering around them to see the scene. A sickly thin lioness was talking to two bigger male lions across a small circle from her. "So, this is the dark power you were talking about..." She chuckled darkly. "Alright, you have my trust...for now..." The lioness purred, and the entire gang heard a new echo in her tone.

"And our reward for this prize, Zira?" The grey lion demanded. "Yes, what DO you want for giving me this power?" The two Nobody lions traded secret looks. Then Xsujint spoke. "In a while, we will come back with monsters of darkness called Heartless. They will be put under your command for a time. You are to use them to take over this world and destroy any that stand in your way." The lioness smiled darkly. "Then it is done. When do you think these 'Heartless' will be here?" It didn't escape the group that the two Nobodies traded uneasy looks before Xsujint answered again. "In due time you will have this world, Zira. Do not let any others know of our deal." She frowned a bit, unpleased with the answer. "Fine. Now leave my pride before the others discover you."

For a third time the two Nobody lions traded a glance, this time an amused one before a portal appeared and they began to walk into it. "Oh, and by the way..." Lyrxet stopped just short of the darkness, turning to smile widely at Zira. "You have some company behind those rocks. Why don't you show them your new power?" A blink later he had disappeared, Xsujint following with a 'hn' a moment later.

Zira watched the black and purple portal disappear before speaking. "So... you came to see what the darkness was, didn't you?" She turned and began walking toward the rocks. "Come out of there so I can kill you." All in the group traded quick looks, followed by three nods.

Zira was smiling, falsely sweet, and she sensed the power of a fairly large traveling party split into two groups, three preparing to strike. With a hiss the lioness pounced, jumping over the rocks and aiming for what felt like the most powerful being.

Riku skid to the side and hit a sharp, solid wall with a small thud, and he heard Kairi's scream as she hit the opposite side of the room a second later. "Sora!" was the first word out of his mouth, and he quickly jumped up to see his friend stuck, Zira's teeth bared and clamped on Sora's Keyblade, a black aura streaked with dark brown encasing her as she stood triumphantly over the brown lion cub.

Donald and Goofy had been blown back by the sudden attack, and both hesitated. Any attack would hurt Sora, too! For the moment, they could do nothing. Kairi also called out for Sora, and she and Riku ran forward at the same time to save the brunet, who was slowly losing his battle. His paws skid back in centimeters, digging into the dusty rock beneath him.

Somehow, Riku managed to reach Zira first, summoning his Keyblade and spinning on his back legs to deflect Zira's face away from Sora. Like a true cat, the lioness flailed in midair and landed perfectly on top of the rock that had seperated the opponents mere minutes ago. She let out a dark chuckle, made all the more menacing by the aura that swirled at her movements. "Darkness shall rule this world! I will not be stopped by light!"

At the end of her statement, more shadows grew from her, and the dark room became even darker and colder, the shadows cast by jutting rocks expanding to cover the hard ground. Sora stood up, and all three of Destiny's Children looked around. Everything was darkness, there was no light. These were no longer shadows, only pure darkness.

"See? I told you it was a trap." Riku said, so casually, and Kairi shivered. She could never remember feeling so cold and alone, even though she knew Sora and Riku were not two feet away. Another cry of battle echoed in the darkness before Zira pounced, all three sensing her power and jumping forward, unintentionally scattering themselves in the dark as the lioness jumped from behind, landing where Riku had been standing seconds before.

Once again her dark laugh pierced the darkness and the fighter's minds. "Give in to the darkness, the power, the shadows..." It seemed a hiss, like a deadly snake, poised and ready to bite at any instant. Kairi felt a rush of adrenaline. Yes, the darkness was a powerful lure, but she felt a pinprick of determination, her pure-born light, resisting, and that gave her the strength to push the temptation to the back of her mind.

Riku and Sora fared similiarly, though not as quick. Kairi was the first to fully throw off the darkness, and the black lifted to reveal the same cave, her standing in the same spot she'd left in. Zira cast a dark, powerful, almost hungry glare of hatred and the two opponents froze for a moment, Zira emanating complete frustration and Kairi a kind of uncertainty. Then two more movements caught their attention as Riku, and then Sora appeared out nowhere.

Zira let out a howl of anger, her dark aura retreating to simmer around her, glowing impatiently as she growled. After a split second of thought, the lioness turned around and jumped off the rock, over the view of the group. All three lion cubs ran around the rocks blocking their way and gasped.

She was gone.

The room was empty, a bit brighter than they remembered. For a few seconds, everyone just looked around, expecting the lioness to jump from the shadows for another attack. "What happened?" Kairi whispered, breaking the fragile silence that had permeated the group. "I... don't konw, Kairi." Sora answered, voice tinted with confusion. Riku 'hn'ed. "Well, whatever's going on here, it's gone. There's no point in sticking around, it sounds like it'll be a while before the Heartless get here."

"That means the Organization doesn't have control of them yet." Sora added, getting a nod from Riku in response. "They're new back, somehow. It might be some time before they get fully regathered." Once again silence rang supreme as everyone thought. "What I don't understand is..." Sora began to theorize, turning to stare thoughtfully at Riku. "Did anybody know who those two were?"

Everybody shook their heads, and all recognized the importance of that question. "So it's a new Organization?" Riku proposed, and nobody answered. "Do you think Xemnas is still leading them?" Kairi timidly asked, getting naught but another silence as answer. "Should we go now?" Sora questioned. What seemed like a painfully heavy weight, still silent as death, settled in the room.

Suddenly Sora felt a pull on his head, and finally remembered the King. Repeatedly Mickey jumped up and down, and Sora's head bobbed with each impact. "Ouch! ow! ow! Ok, ok, I get it!" Sora swiped a paw harmlessly at his ear, and the mouse calmed. Everyone stared at him with expectancy, and Sora sighed. "I think the King is saying that the answer to all those questions is yes, and that it's time to leave here." Sora felt a rush of relief when the mouse settled down, and a few people nodded in agreement.

"I guess..." Kairi was the last to agree, and within seconds a warm white glow surrounded them. After the glow had faded, the six found themselves back on the Gummi Ship, floating in the space between worlds innocently, far out of reach of the darkness that consumed the worlds below. Sora walked over to a window, out of which he could see the Pride Lands, and repressed a sigh. Riku joined him a moment later, as the King, Donald, and Goofy drove the ship away and on to the next world. Kairi sat in a seat behind Goofy, silent and unusually withdrawn.

"What was that?" Sora quietly asked. Riku 'hm'ed. "I think it was a test. Did you know that Kairi was the first to escape?" Sora nodded. "To test our light?" Riku shrugged. "Possibly. Possibly not." Sora looked away from the space they were passing, far away worlds shining like specks of light in the middle of nothing reminding him a bit uncomfortably of their recent encounter.

Before he could speak, Donald yelled out "Look!" All eyes stared to the front of the ship, where indeed a dot of blue was fast approaching, signaling another world ready to accept them. As they neared, Donald squacked. "It's Atlantica!" Goofy let out a 'hyuk!' of laughter in agreement, Kairi staring at the watery spot in confusion. "It's underwater?" Sora approached her, Riku following to stand at her other side. "Yeah, Atlantica is all underwater. There is a surface side, but we've never been there."

The king nodded. "Donald, I think you use magic here?" The magician nodded and struck a valiant pose, earning a few laughs in response. He lifted his staff as the Gummi Ship got as close as possible to the world, the same warm white light surrounding them, this time complimented by a slightly sharp tingling, followed by a rush of hot air. This time when the light faded, the group found themselves in warm water, in their watery forms.

Sora was still part dolphin, his dark blue tail swishing under and behind him as the movements for swimming coming back to him like the movements for running. Donald was still a white octopus, and Goofy swam up beside him, as before a black and green turtle. Sora smiled when he saw what his other friends had changed into. Riku floated, looking lost, flailing a bit as he tried to adjust to the powerful bright green fin that swat at the surrounding water. His chest was bare, and the silver haired boy twisted a bit as he inspected the colorful new world. Kairi seemed a bit more in danger, falling and rising with desperate jerks of her light pink tail. She turned around and around, letting out little gasps as she tried to steady herself. Her chest was covered with a pair of white shells speckled with pink and gray spots, held in place by thin white lines that could have been twisted fishing wire.

Goofy and Donald swam over to help Kairi, seeing as how they were closest. After a few minutes she seemed steady enough, and by that time Sora had given Riku enough prodding that the older boy had his sea legs, so to speak. The five gathered in a loose circle and made their minor adjustments when Donald spoke up.

"Where's the King?" Everyone looked around for a minute before the worry set in. "Where'd he go?" Goofy asked, voice punctured by panic. "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!?" Donald began yelling, worry radiating off him almost tangibly. He broke the circle and swam away, startling the others into following.

Donald rounded a corner, a cliff of dark blue rock and colorful bursts of coral before a squacking scream was heard. The others jolted into a fast swim and turned the corner after Donald, only to stop in their watery tracks at the sight that greeted them.

A mass of black spattered with yellow eyes bobbed in front of them, and the cloud moved as a great group of fish-like Heartless blocked the path before them. They seemed to seek no particular goal, and aimlessly yet dangerously floated in the water, the excitement vibrating through the group as a whole. Their eyes darted around, and most of the dark beings finally focused on the group.

With little warning save for a second of intense stillness, the great cloud suddenly darted forward, converging on Donald, who lay petrified before them. He let out a terrified and broken squack, throwing his hands over his head as Sora, Goofy, Kairi, and Riku rushed forward. All already had weapons out, but the knowledge that their efforts were in vain screamed at them. The Heartless were closer, there were too many, they were newer, more powerful, it was all _too much_.

A small ping echoed through the water as a shaft of golden light pierced the dark mass, breaking into multiple streams that immediately dispersed the Heartless that they touched. Much of the group was destroyed, and the others began to frenzy at the unexpected interruption. They quickly condensed back into a much smaller cloud of black, yellow eyes roaming the area in a frantic search of their newest and biggest threat. Donald finally looked up from his crouching position, and upon seeing his attacker in retreat, immediately scrambled backwards to rejoin a confused Sora and company.

Everyone's eyes were seeking the source of life-saving light, and soon Kairi gasped. "Look!" She pointed to the top of a nearby cliff, and everyone, even the Heartless, followed her finger. On top of the ridge stood a short, dark, and powerful figure. A Keyblade of gold glittered in the streams of sunlight reflected through the water, and the gang cheered. "It's the King!" Donald exclaimed, the group of Heartless seeming to quiver at the mention and identification of their opposing power.

The figure jumped off the cliff, and the Keyblade group swam over to meet him in a hurry, the Heartless escaping unnoticed in a flash of darkness. Donald and Goofy were the first to reach the King, and both smothered him in an embrace, laughing at the reunion. Riku was next, he and the King trading nods, both relieved at the other's safety. Kairi was the next to greet the King, and she smiled at him in relief, him sending a reassuring nod back to her. Last was Sora, who was frowning a bit. "What happened, your Majesty? Why were you moved so far from the rest of us?" The King merely shrugged, left without an answer.

As the group recovered from the slight scare in a comfortable silence, Sora scrutinized the new form of the King. He had kept the most of his original shape, but his ears had shrunk and pulled back to his head. His nose still stuck out like a marble. He seemed to be in a white and black scuba suit, with feet like flippers: longer and much thinner than his normal form. Gills fluttered at his neck every few seconds.

The reverie was broken by a startled noise from Riku. "Hey, where'd the Heartless go?" Heads whipped around in the water to stare at a serene spot where a swarm of darkness once floated. Half let out small noises of surprise, but a few remained silent. The King, Sora, and Riku were them. Mickey had felt their retreat plan form as soon as his attack hit. Riku was mildly suspicious, but not very surprised. Sora had felt them leave, but not mentioned it at the time.

"I don't like this." Kairi began, and Sora picked up her idea. "Why would they act like that? They almost looked..." "Lost." The King finished for him. "They were lost. Wandering around under no orders. Something big is happening."

"Last time we saw the Heartless was right before we fought Xemnas." Riku mused out loud. Mickey nodded. "There were too many. Maleficent and Pete chose to stay behind and fight them. I don't think they lost." Sora almost frowned. "But wouldn't the Heartless be under their control then?" He asked, and Mickey turned to look at him. "Well, they should be, but I'm just not sure what could have happened to make this happen."

"Could Maleficent have lost herself to the darkness?" Sora asked quietly, him and Riku trading dark looks. It had happened before, why couldn't it happen again? But Mickey shook his head. "I doubt it. Maleficent is definitely stronger than the Heartless." "Could someone be challenging her for them, then?" Riku cut in. Everyone was quiet for a beat. "It could be. But who could be so strong?" Everybody shrugged this time. The subject was dropped.

A swooshing sound caught their attention and stopped the uncomfortable silence that would have surely followed. All eyes focused on a rising of dark power a few twists and turns away, knowing the Heartless had returned, and had found another victim. "Let's go!" Sora called out, leading the group in their aqueous flight to the fight.

After a few minutes in which a powerful battle raged, Sora swam around a corner and screeched to a halt. In the open space, overshadowed by some rocks jutting out, swam a girl with long black hair and extremely pale skin, her dark blue mermaid tail swishing violently as she darted around the water between her enemies. The fair-sized swarm of Heartless had ambushed her, and she swam gracefully around in loops and twists and turns, swinging a long black staff. For each Heartless hit, the stranger would simply move on to another that had taken its place.

Sora, now joined by Donald, Goofy, the King, Riku, and Kairi, watched the fight continue. In a few seconds, their performer had ended up in the middle, surrounded at virtually every angle by Heartless. But she seemed calm. The creatures were still, only squirming in their spots. Then at what seemed the same second, two things happened.

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woot Pride Lands is DONE.

now review or u don't get a chapter! : (


	7. A New Friend?

i'm getting saddened by the lack of reviews. ' and i meant that last threat.

REVIEW DAMNIT.

Recap:

_The creatures were still, only squirming in their spots. Then at what seemed the same second, two things happened._

/end recap

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First, the dense crowd of Heartless sprung as if timed at the black-haired girl. Second, or maybe that happened first, the girl, who looked not much older than Riku, smirked before twirling her staff in front of her, stirring up a small whirlpool. Some of the opponents were sucked in, but most were able to stop in time. Then, the whole Keyblade crew watched in amazement as the whirl froze solid. They couldn't see the top or bottom, but it seemed as if she'd trapped herself in it. Also stunned, the Heartless watched for a second as well. A small cracking sound was heard, and it steadily grew, giant crevices appearing in the frozen whirl.

The Heartless turned in an attempt to escape, frantically spanning out. But before any got very far the attack exploded, sending what the gang saw as icicles out in every direction. They varied in size, but all flashed out past the girl, who still held her staff, unharmed. Her smirk stayed victiorious as the spears did their job, effectively slaying all her opponents. But it faded as she met Sora's gaze. Her eyes, which could now be clearly seen as a light blue, hardened in anger as she raised and pointed her weapon at the group. "Who are you?"

Sora wasn't the only one that flinched at the cold voice. "My name's Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, and King Mickey." He pointed to each individual in turn as he said their name, and moved to the side as Kairi was floating behind him. "I see." Her voice was layered with contemplation and amusement. A slim, pale hand reached back to push a loose strand of black hair that shined dark blue in the sunlight. "You can call me..." She paused for a second. "Karina will do."

Each member of the Keyblade party studied the girl. Pale skin, in the water she had a dark blue mermaid fin, cold light blue eyes that seemed deep and unreadable, black hair that floated carelessly in the water, and a cover of two pale yellow shells. Her build was normal, not very thin or muscular for a female. She studied them with the same blank expression.

"So, I've never seen you around here before." Sora said, a reflexive attempt to be friendly. The girl shrugged. "I was told to come here recently after some news came to my..." Another strange pause, "family." She stared at him for a second, analyzing. With a flick of a pale wrist, a thick icicle had instantly formed in front of Sora, the point right at his neck. Startled, the boy swam backward enough to summon his Keyblade and reflexively destroy the offending object. "You have the Keyblade..." The girl was speaking as casually as if they were discussing the weather!

Sora stared at her incredulously. She stared back, interested yet somehow angry. "I've heard the legends and had heard the rumors that you were back...now I can say I met you all." Again, her tone held a wonderous mixture of sarcastic amusement and careful resentment. Riku looked interested. "Rumors?" She studied him through narrow eyes for a second before answering. "Yes. Among my family, information gets around fairly quickly. There was a rumor from some others that events in other worlds had revealed the Keyblade wielders had returned." The silver haired, neon-green finned boy nodded at her vague, winding answer.

The one called Karina watched with careful eyes as the group of Keyblade wielders and their company drifted in the water, murmuring about their plans in this world. She heard catches of names she didn't recognize and occasional muted squabbles about what to do. Obviously, she was not quite invited into the fold. Disregarding their behavior, the mermaid turned and swam off around a cliff, one of her hands now covered in darkness.

Bringing it up to her ear and mouth, she murmured. "They're here. I've met them, and they don't know anything. And the Heartless are wild now, somehow. You know what that means..." Her eyes closed for the answering orders, open ear straining for any noise that would alert her of the other's movements. After a moment, she nodded and hummed, the darkness dissipating to reveal just her pale hand. She swam back to the group, who were still whispering urgently.

A dark eyebrow rose as Karina watched, eyes reflecting cold, uncaring patience. Nobody noticed her for another minute until Sora looked over his shoulder. "Uh..." "What are you doing in this world?" She asked, cutting off his stammering before it began. "We're trying to find someone." Sora answered. The girl floating in front of him 'hm'ed. "What are you doing here?" She shrugged. "I was sent to survey this world. And then the Heartless seemed to lose control." Sora shared a concerned look with a select few others in the group.

"Do you know what could have happened?" She looked thoughtful for a minute. "The only thing I can think of is if they have no master. Or their current leader is making them attack randomly." Sora sighed. "Didn't Maleficent have the Heartless after we left her and Pete in the Castle?" He turned, blue eyes searching his party member's for answers. Mickey nodded. "Yep. They should have been able to beat them, and probably got out before the Castle collapsed and the world faded. That means Maleficent should have control of them." Riku added oh-so-helpfully, "Apparently, not anymore. It's not like her to be so unorganized."

"This Maleficent has the Heartless, you say?" Karina spoke from behind Sora, butting into the conversation. "Well, we think so..." Sora offered half-heartedly, shaking his head. The girl let out an uncommital noise. "But then again, we don't think so." Sora hung his head, a deep frown etched onto his face. Riku picked up the explanation. "She's not likely to do this. Maybe someone beat her..." His head snapped up as a small gasp escaped.

For a split second gazes were traded like lightning between a few faces, each confirming a morbid theory. "It's likely, but not positive." Mickey settled the unease among the group. Karina had one eyebrow raised again in question, once again ignored, though her eyes did narrow.

00000000000o.o000000000000

_(In another world...)_

One hooded figure sat with their head bowed and face held in their hands. The other was sitting up straight, one leg crossed over the other. Her arms were lazily splayed on the arms of the pure white chair. The first heaved a sigh. "So much could go wrong..." A shake of the head was all she could finish. "We're not strong, Athenyx'b. Xehanort could betray us. The few we have left could die!"

"Xamaris, enough. We've lost all we will lose. Xehanort will not dare betray us, he needs our strength," she spat the word out, "to defeat the Masters." She stood, and pushed back her hood to reveal long, light brown hair and determined and hard green eyes. The other girl followed suit, shaking out her longer dark brown hair. Worried eyes locked on the calmer girl. "We can't be sure, though, right? What if--" "Xamaris!" The female winced, not used to hearing Athenyx'b's voice so rough and bitter. "Listen to me." Hesitantly, Xamaris nodded. "Xehanort would never usually ally himself with us unless he was set to gain more.

"He's new back in the worlds in his true form, so he needs time to stall and gain his strength. The Heartless, I think, will be what he goes after first. They have a master somewhere, Xelcra is out gathering information now. It matters not, so long as either we or Xehanort control them. Either way, both our goals are to force the Masters to destroy Heartless to get Kingdom Hearts. There is no way he would betray us until we've done what he wants, but before that we need our part of the deal."

Xamaris nodded, grudgingly searching for any opposition to her friend's argument.

"And after that? He gives us Kingdom Hearts, we get our hearts back, then what? Do we go back to our lives? Do we remember?" She shook her head furiously, upset. "I'm so tired, Athenyx'b. I want this over..." The other relaxed a bit and lowered her head. "Me too."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

_(Back in Atlantica...)_

Sora sighed. "Great, just great..." Kairi shot him a sympathetic look. Riku was frowning slightly in thought. The Disney Castle trio were talking amongst themselves in a close-knit circle a few feet away. Karina floated nearby, not really doing anything, just like everyone else. A blank look was on her pale face as she scrutinized the newcomers.

Sora, she thought, was very intriguing. A mix of pain, light, loyalty, and tiredness mixed in one stressful fighter. Lots of potential. Riku she quickly made note of, more power and a past stained deeply by darkness, saved by the light. Terribly wise and knowing. Kairi she was wary of. A great amount of power, possibly more than her friends, but helplessly locked up and made of far too much light to be healthy. Young and naive.

King Mickey Karina did not like. Old and well-known of both dark and light, but carrying a heavy load of loyalty and subtle arrogance. Lonely and wise. The other two, Donald and Goofy, were amazingly similiar but at the same time very different. They stuck together subconsciously, but the white one was much more short-tempered and outspoken. They'd both seen darkness, but hardly touched it. Loyal followers.

This wasn't good. The Heartless were changing masters. She closed her eyes. Could they already...? She knew her family wasn't behind this. It could only have one explanation, and the revelation brought a distasteful curl to her mouth. They were stubborn fools, and would all die soon. She didn't regret it a bit.

The current picked up and everyone began looking around, whether to find the source or a place to hide unknown. Smaller bodies started to drift away, quickly grabbing on to the rough rocks to anchor themselves down. Karina and the Keybladers were the first to feel the power surge. All heads whipped to the side, and over a few hills of sea cliffs and coral was a dark cloud expanding upwards.

"Again?" Sora whispered to himself, but the stranger called out. "It's the Heartless! Move, quick!" She had to yell to even have a chance of being heard. With a flash of light reflected off dark hair and white skin she turned around, swimming violently fast away from the cloud, which was now moving toward them. Kairi let out a yell, Sora thought it might have been his name, before an arm grabbed him and began swimming away. Blue eyes vaguely saw a blur of white and black as Mickey, Donald, and Goofy turned down a small crevice and dove into the hidden shadows.

The Keyblader shook his head and pulled out of whoever had grabbed him, getting caught back in the current and tumbling several times before grabbing hold of a jutting piece of coral and holding on for dear life. He felt it before he saw it, but snapped up his head in time to see a could of black pierced by bright, searching yellow eyes barreling right towards him. Sora froze in momentary panic and let go of the coral, opting to curl up tightly and be carried away by both current and Heartless...

A groan escaped him as Sora opened his eyes, bringing a hand up to rub his head. He must have hit it on something... Blue eyes opened and scanned the surrounding dark cliffs and bright coral, sunlight streaming through clear water. He didn't recognize where he was, and didn't see anybody anywhere. The Heartless were gone; so were the King, Goofy, and Donald. That girl Karina was nowhere to be found, and he couldn't see Riku or Kairi anywhere either. A jolt of panic shot to his stomach.

The circular area he was in was quiet and bright and calm, and Sora wondered for a second when the Heartless had gone and the current had stopped. "Well, I guess it's gone now..." He murmured to himself. "Maybe I should go find the others." He looked himself over to make sure that nothing was seriously hurt or broken, and was startled by the thought of his items. He'd brought the books!

Frantically he pulled them out, the larger light brown and white book bearing Pooh Bear and himself brought a small smile to his face. After making sure it was undamaged (he'd had quite enough of that, thanks), Sora replaced the tome, now gently holding a smaller book, dark brown, sturdy leather binding untouched by the water. There were faded words on the spine and cover, but so old Sora couldn't make them out. It was made for a travelling fighter, he mused: small and tough, easy to carry...and hide. A slight frown marred Sora's face as he opened to the same marked page and read the passage once again.

_Those fools are misusing the power of the Keyblades. To use such a gift to merely keep order in the worlds is a waste. I know a much more useful path for their power. However, I do despise the idea of the others discovering my purpose, so I have resorted to planning in the dark. One day soon I will rise against the others and show them the true power of the Keyblade._

A chill ran through Sora at the words. Xehanort was going to pay for his stupid greed. It had caused endless waves of consequences for decades, but now was the time to end it. No more fighting after this. Defeat Xehanort, go home. For good.

Sora, bored and curious and more than a little annoyed at the little book, couldn't stop flipping a few pages and eyeing a furiously scribbled entry cut off sporadically by large burn marks and rips.

_Fool... dark hearts--lessness_

_I... --ower_

_Should... soon, but_

That was all he could make out, and Sora tilted his head in confusion. This was written later than the first entry he'd read. Was this after he found the darkness? Was the book damaged in a fight? The brown haired boy flipped a few pages before and after that entry, but none were as mutilated as the one. Without pausing Sora turned back a thin chunk of pages to an earlier entry, also clean of marks of any kind except scratches of an eager hand.

_The Keyblade... wow. It's just amazing. The fact that I'm not alone is both a comfort and annoyance. I'm not sure if I get along with the others well yet. I suppose I'm just a lone-wolf type. Time will tell. We set off to train tomorrow._

_A new journey..._

Sora sighed. Xehanort had had this for a while. Since before he was a Keyblade Master. Well, Sora thought bitingly, at least Xehanort had a Master to learn by and people like him nearby for help. He'd been thrust into the journey alone and afraid, forced to make it his own.

The brunet shook his head to clear out the negative thoughts, tucking the diary a bit regretfully back into its hiding place. With another scanning gaze over the clearing, the brunet swam forward, rounding a corner and floating ahead into the maze of cliffs and coral.

Meanwhile, Riku and Kairi had managed to slip into a crevice before the current of Heartless could catch them, and now had been shoved past the scratching rocks to a small pocket half-shadowed by a jutting cliff. Here they caught their breath, Kairi looking back out for a few minutes as the cloud of darkness continued to roll past. Once it faded away, however, she turned to Riku anxiously. "Sora! Where is he!? I thought you grabbed both of us!"

Bright green eyes studied the worrisome girl as a frown decorated Riku's face. "I did grab both of you, but Sora shook me off. He probably thought I was a Heartless." But Kairi was still frowning. "Don't worry, Kairi, we'll find him. Or he'll find us first. And remember, we lost the King, Donald, and Goofy, too in that mess." Kairi let out a sigh and her head dropped. "I guess you're right, Riku." She raised her head and put on a grin. "Let's go find them." The bright-finned boy nodded and swam ahead, making sure to hide his worried expression from his friend.

--

End it here. Next time: the end of Atlantica and a special romantic chapter ahead!


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